The QUIT campaign has been in place since June 2011 and has proven to be one of the HSE’s most comprehensive and effective social marketing campaigns, prompting over 600,000 quit attempts since 2011 and providing support to many thousands of quitters.
The QUIT campaign launched powerful new advertising messages in 2014, featuring Gerry Collins from Greystones in Co. Wicklow, who had lung cancer caused by smoking. Gerry’s trio of adverts have prompted a large increase in responses from smokers trying to quit since they first aired in January 2014, and his family are generously committed to allowing the HSE to use these adverts to lead the QUIT campaign for the coming years.
Watch our TV ads and online films on the HSE's Youtube Channel.
The HSE launched this new website and the new QUIT Team support service in January 2015, with a new support team of trained advisors, available over the phone, by email, live web-chat or via Twitter or Facebook. The QUIT service also includes this interactive website and online QUITplan. The QUIT service is evidence-based and can offer quitters a standard treatment programme, where they will be tracked and supported for 12 months.
A quitter is twice as likely to quit for good if they use our service, and twice as likely again if they match the support with approved quit products or medication. Our 2015 communications plan centres on sharing news of this new and valuable resource, and our new promotional elements that have been developed to support and to launch this service.
From now on, the QUIT campaign will use TV and Video ads on Youtube, RTE and TV3 players to continue create the emotional dissonance needed to consider a quit attempt– showing them Why to QUIT. Our other media, primarily radio and online, will be used to carry quitters through to our QUIT team – How to QUIT.
Key messages
- 1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco related disease – but it doesn’t have to be that way
- You can QUIT and we can help
- You’re twice as likely to quit with our service
- We will give you the support you need, when you need it – online, phone, SMS
- This is a free service from the HSE
To see latest press releases from the HSE about the QUIT campaign, visit our Media Centre
