In 2013, we launched the first anti-smoking campaign to ever target “social smokers” - those who only smoke in social situations, out at a bar or restaurant with friends. We started a debate about the dangers of “social smoking”. Our objective was to raise awareness of this topic and shift thinking of “social smoking” as an acceptable behavior. Getting them to see “social smoking” for what it really is - smoking.

THE IDEA: Quit the Denial. Putting the word “Social” in front of a bad behaviour doesn’t make it acceptable.

“Social Smokers” are openly living in denial when it comes to smoking. By comparing their behavior to other ridiculous behaviors like Social Farting, Social Nibbling, and Social Ear Wax Picking, we were able to play back their own ridiculous excuses in a way they weren’t expecting.

There are several clear pieces of evidence that demonstrate the Quit The Denial campaign succeeded in achieving its goals:

1. Create a new debate.

Our objective was to create a new debate around “social smoking” so social engagement was imperative to our success.

¦ The videos instantly went viral - generating over 2,000,000 YouTube views in the first two weeks.

¦ The campaign produced 91,774,023 earned impressions.

¦ According to a Sysomos survey, the conversation around “social smoking” increased 8,600% after the campaign launched. We got people talking.

¦ The debate garnered so much attention that our campaign was able to reach nearly 4 in 10 Ontarians or 456,200 “social smokers” on a limited budget.

2. “Social smoking” IS smoking.

¦ Realized that “social smoking” IS smoking: 55% of Ontarians strongly agreed.

¦ Unaided 31% stated that the main message taken away from the campaign is that “social smoking” is still smoking.

¦ Learned about the excuses “social smokers” tell themselves: 63% of Ontarians strongly agreed.

¦ Recognize how ridiculous “social smoking” is: 62% of Ontarians strongly agreed.

Among Occasional smokers who saw the campaign:

¦ Half (51%) recognize “social smoking” as smoking vs. only a quarter (27%) that didn’t

see the campaign. An 89% improvement.

3. The negative consequences of “social smoking”.

Among Occasional smokers who saw the campaign:

¦ Half (51%) believe there are negative consequences of “social smoking” vs. 31% of those who didn’t see the campaign. A 65% increase without any health mentions.