Behind the Haze
Youth vaping prevention campaign brand developed by Rescue Agency and run by several state tobacco programs: South Carolina's Department of Public Health (social media), Indiana's Department of Health ('See Through' message package, part of Vape-Free Indiana) and Oklahoma's TSET Healthy Youth Initiative (TV, radio and social ads from October 2021; 'Sharing Addiction' in 2023). It gives teens specific facts about vaping rather than general scare messages.
- Years
- 2021–now
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- TobaccoVaping
- Asks people to
- Never start
- Strategy
- Social norms
- Channel
- RadioSocial (organic)Social (paid)TVWebsite
- Audience
- ParentsYouthTeens 13-18 (Oklahoma) or 13-21 (Indiana); Oklahoma TV spots placed on family programming to prompt parent-teen talks.
Evidence
ProcessUnknown
South Carolina's 2019-2023 cross-sectional surveys, run by Rescue Agency with the health department: over a third of respondents recalled the state's youth social media campaigns, and campaign-aware respondents recalled featured facts more often than unaware ones. No behavioral outcome reported for Behind the Haze (Stalgaitis 2025).
Sponsor (who paid)
- South Carolina Department of Public Health, Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control State local government, funder and creator
- Indiana Department of Health (Vape-Free Indiana) State local government, funder and creator
- Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) State local government, funder and creator
Credits (who made it)
- Rescue Agency Creative source
Executions (individual ads)
- See Through (Indiana message package) social-paid
- Behind the Haze TV and radio flight (Oklahoma) 2021 · tv
- Sharing Addiction (Oklahoma) 2023 · tv
Related campaigns
- Don't Puff This Stuff 2021–now
- Quit the Hit 2021–now
Sources
- Vape-Free Indiana: Media Campaigns (Indiana Department of Health) sponsor
- TSET Releases New Vape Prevention Messaging for Teens (4 Oct 2021) sponsor · 2021
- New Messages from TSET Focus on Social Aspects of Vaping Among Teenagers (9 Feb 2023) sponsor · 2023
- Stalgaitis CA et al. Youth Tobacco Control in the Digital Age: Impact of South Carolina's Youth Tobacco Education and Vaping Cessation Social Media Programs. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2025;22(2):269 evaluation · 2025 · DOI 10.3390/ijerph22020269 · PMID 40003494
Research notes
Drafted by Claude on 2026-10-28 for #130 from the sources listed; unreviewed (summary and cardSummary included). startYear 2021 is the earliest date in a source opened (Oklahoma, October 2021); South Carolina may be earlier (its evaluation surveys ran 2019-2023), and the Indiana page gives the launch as 'November 18' without a year. Strategy social-norms is a loose fit (the Sharing Addiction ads use social reasons for vaping); there is no taxonomy value for 'specific facts'. The SC evaluation authors are Rescue Agency employees (the agency that made the campaign). Other states may also run it; search BehindtheHaze.com. Check the numbers: 'over one-third' recall.
Record cases/behind-the-haze.json, updated 2026-10-28· Link to this campaign