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Anti-tobacco campaign

Warn about the dangers of tobacco – Anti-Tobacco Campaign

Despite overwhelming evidence of the dangers of tobacco, relatively few users fully understand the extent of the harm that tobacco causes and tend to underestimate the risks to themselves and others. The ease and depth of addiction to nicotine for tobacco users makes quitting extremely difficult and perpetuates the cycle of increased addiction, leading to devastating health effects.

The media play a key role in shaping tobacco-related knowledge, opinions, attitudes and behaviors, and can be extremely powerful in influencing both individuals and policy-makers regarding tobacco use and tobacco control issues. As a result, mass media anti-tobacco campaigns have become a key component of tobacco control programs in countries.

Source : https://www.who.int/activities/warning-about-the-dangers-of-tobacco

Anti-Tobacco Campaign in Korea

Legal Basis

Article 8 of the National Health Promotion Act

  • (No Tobacco Use and Moderate Drinking Campaign, etc) The State and local governments shall educate and publicize to the citizens that direct or indirect tobacco use and excessive drinking are harmful to their health

Key strategic milestones of Anti-Tobacco Campaigns in Korea

Since launching Korea's Anti-tobacco campaign in 1995, various themes and message appeal methods have been used.

Various themes were used to highlight the impact of tobacco on personal health and society including; the impact of smoking on the human body, societal harms, the destructiveness of secondhand smoke, and communicating the expansion of non-smoking areas.

Early stages of the anti-tobacco campaign focused on aiding smokers to quit, but recently the focused has shifted to raising awareness of the harms of tobacco to not only smokers, but nonsmokers alike, on themes such as the dangers of secondhand smoke and new types of tobacco products to prevent the use of tobacco.

Korea's National Anti-Tobacco Campaign is recognized globally for its high standards.

The campaign messages as well previously focused on smokers using an approach which provoked fear, but now strategic messaging is considered according to different target audiences such as using elements of humor for campaign ads targeting youth and nonsmokers.

Tobacco Advertising in South Korea; Past and Present
  • See TOBACCO CONTROL FACT SHEET No. 13 ‘Overview and Progress of Korea’s National Anti-Smoking Campaign’ & INFOGRAPHIC ‘Tobacco Advertising in South Korea; Past and Present’
  • If you are interested in watching the video, please visit https://2022.nodam.kr/whatIsNodam/adHistory (Korean).