Tobacco: Tumor-causing, teeth-staining, smelly, puking habit

phoenixnewtimes.com

“Tobacco. Tumor-causing, teeth-staining, smelly, puking habit.”

Arizona Department of Health Services teen anti-tobacco campaign (US-AZ) funded by a 40-cent voter-approved tobacco tax, ubiquitous from 1996 on T-shirts, billboards and gross-out radio and TV ads that spoke in teens' own language. Some teens wore the shirts while smoking.

Years: 1996
Country: United States
Budget: Part of a $30 million tobacco education program (Washington Post, 1997).
Topic: Tobacco
Asks people to: Never start
Strategy: Fear appeal Humor
Channel: Events Outdoor Radio TV
Audience: Youth

Evidence

NoneUnknown

No outcome evaluation of this campaign found; contemporaneous press reported teens mocking it. (A separate Arizona youth tobacco access campaign, 2002-03, was evaluated by Siegel & Alvaro 2006 and found limited exposure.)

Sponsor (who paid)

Arizona Department of Health Services, Tobacco Education and Prevention Program State local government, funder

Credits (who made it)

Riester Creative, 1996- source

Sources

Michigan Daily (Washington Post reprint), 1997: Arizona teen anti-smoking slogan news · 1997
Phoenix New Times: Mrs. Good Retch news
Siegel JT, Alvaro EM. An evaluation of Arizona's youth tobacco access prevention media campaign. Am J Prev Med 2006;30(4):284-91 (different campaign, context) reference · 2006

Research notes

Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Riester (Phoenix New Times, 24 April 1997: Riester Corporation 'handles the state's multimillion-dollar antismoking campaign'; its team drafted the proposal in 1995). US-AZ. Siegel & Alvaro 2006 (PMID 16530614, doi 10.1016/j.amepre.2005.11.008) evaluates a different ADHS-era youth access campaign; could be its own record. Arizona tobacco work later branded Tobacco Free Arizona / ASHLine. Ad library search: "Arizona Department of Health Services", "Tobacco Free Arizona", "ASHLine".

Record cases/az-tobacco-tumor-causing.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign