A recent study determined every cigarette reduces expected life span by 11 minutes, so we reasoned every cigarette you don’t smoke could add 11 minutes to your life.

We wanted to make those minutes as valuable as possible.

So we created a giant white obelisk called Machine 11 that allowed people to trade in a cigarette for an amazing 11-minute adventure.

Then we placed it in downtown New York and filmed what happened when people engaged with it.

Next, Machine 11 traveled to LA where it made a national TV appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

This machine, and the content we created with it, was centerpiece of the 11 Initiative – an entire program built around how positive messaging could help engage smokers rather than simply lecture them.

We created Machine 11 to attract attention and help generate content for the larger 11 Initiative.

Two days before the day the American Heart Association trumpets as “The Great American Smoke Out,” we put the machine in downtown New York and filmed people’s experiences with it.

On the morning of “The Great American Smoke Out,” we posted this 2:35 film on YouTube.

The film drove to a Tumblr that encouraged people to add their own unique ways to destroy a cigarette and gave them ideas to create their own 11-minute adventures.

Viners, UGC, and appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! helped build momentum, while earned media coverage of Machine 11 from places like Huffington Post and Upworthy also drove more people to the Tumblr page.

To date the video has received over 1.7 million views.

Several top wellness and “inspirational” influencers such as Lexi’s Clean Kitchen and Lee Abbamonte shared the video, reaching a combined 1.5 million followers.

Machine 11’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been their most successful integration video to date with over 56,000 views in one week (exceeding other non-sponsored vignettes on the channel).

The segment has been picked up (through proactive efforts and organically) by major outlets and blogs such as ABC News online, AOL and Like This for a total of 9 placements and 3.57 million impressions.

Earned media has ranged from a front-page story on Upworthy to coverage from The Huffington Post.

And sentiment has increased for the brand from 25% to an almost unbelievable 99.8% (positive) since the start of the campaign.