India – Tobacco Control – Artery Bidi (English)

The 30 second Public Service Announcement (PSA), launched on all major TV channels on 11th January 2014 for a span of five weeks. The PSA, originally developed in Australia, had been rigorously pre-tested in ten countries including India. Two nearly identical versions of the ad were developed, one featuring a bidi smoker and the other featuring a cigarette smoker, in order to target both categories of tobacco smokers. The PSA depicts how smoking cigarettes and bidis leads to the build up of dangerous fatty deposits in the heart, leading to strokes, heart disease and heart attacks. The campaign materials are available in TV and radio formats (30 sec each) in 17 lndian languages, and outdoor designs comprise Billboard/hoarding, Transport signage and Posters.