The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced an adult smoking cessation education campaign aimed at encouraging cigarette smokers to quit through messages of support that underscore the health benefits of quitting.  These messages will be displayed in and around gas stations and convenience stores — retail locations where smokers face a multitude of triggers and that typically feature cigarette advertisements.  The “Every Try Counts” campaign targets smokers ages 25-54 who have attempted to quit smoking in the last year but were unsuccessful.

“The ‘Every Try Counts’ campaign encourages smokers to rethink their next pack of cigarettes at the most critical of places – that point of sale.  Commercial tobacco campaigns have long used advertisements at convenience stores and gas stations to promote their products, and we plan to use that same space to embolden smokers to quit instead,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D.  “The FDA is committed to reducing commercial tobacco-related disease and death by helping people quit combustible cigarettes and implementing comprehensive policies to reduce addiction to nicotine.”

“Cigarette smoking is responsible for an estimated 480,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.  Despite declining rates of use among adults, 15 percent (36.5 million) of adults in the U.S. were cigarette smokers in 2015.  Of those adult smokers, about 2 out of 3 (more than 22 million) say they’d like to quit.  While more than 55 percent of adult smokers made a quit attempt in 2015, only about 7 percent were successful.

“Every Try Counts” seeks to celebrate each quit attempt as a positive step toward success because research shows those who have tried quitting before are more likely to try again, and those who have tried to quit multiple times have a higher likelihood of quitting for good.  To further assist smokers trying to quit, the FDA has partnered with the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute to create EveryTryCounts.gov, which provides smoking cessation resources and tools.

“Every Try Counts” is a part of the FDA’s ongoing efforts to reduce the enormous public health burden of commercial tobacco use and will complement the agency’s at-risk youth and young adult education campaigns aimed at prevention.  The two-year campaign launches next month in 35 U.S. markets and features print, digital, radio, and out-of-home ads, such as billboards.