“Public Health England is rolling out a nationwide £3m campaign, looking to capitalise on people making New Year resolutions.

The government is aiming to capitalise on the annual swathe of health-related resolutions made by Britons at New Year by launching a £3m ad campaign to get smokers to quit.

Public Health England, an executive agency of the Department of Health, is rolling out a nationwide campaign focusing on the toxic cycle of dirty blood caused by inhaling the chemicals in cigarettes.

The TV ad, developed by ad agency Dare/Now, opens with a mansmoking before using special effects to show the harmful impact cigarettes can have on the heart and brain.

The campaign, called Toxic Cycle, will be backed by posters, online ads and billboards as well as a special-build “tunnel of blood” at London Bridge train station.

“This advertising campaign aims to remind smokers of the harm that cigarettes cause out of sight, inside the body,” said Sheila Mitchell, director of marketing at PHE. “The damage that smoking has on the heart and lungs is relatively well documented. But the potential damage to the brain through increased risk of a stroke or cognitive decline is something smokers are less aware of and we hope the ads will highlight this too.”

The ad campaign marks the start of a £15m anti-smoking push this year, PHE spends about a quarter of its almost £60m annual advertising budget on smoking campaigns including “Stoptober”.”

See the full article – http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/dec/30/new-year-ad-campaign-targets-smokers-health