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California Tobacco Control Program media campaign

Also: Tobacco Free California · CTCP anti-tobacco media campaign

Statewide anti-tobacco program (US-CA) funded by the voter-approved Proposition 99 cigarette surtax, with a paid counter-advertising campaign on air since 1990. It is one of the most evaluated state tobacco programs and an early user of industry-denormalization themes.

Years
1990–now
Country
United States
Topic
Tobacco
Asks people to
Never startStopSupport a policy
Strategy
Cessation service linkFear appealIndustry denormalizationPolicy paired
Channel
OutdoorPrintRadioSocial (paid)TV
Audience
AdultsGeneral publicYouth

Evidence

Quasi-experimentalPositive

Compared with the rest of the US, per capita cigarette consumption in California fell 52% faster in 1989-1993 than before the program (9.7 to 6.5 packs/person/month), but the decline slowed after 1993 as funding was cut (Pierce 1998). Relative declines in consumption and heart-disease mortality were associated with about 33,300 fewer heart-disease deaths 1989-1997 (Fichtenberg & Glantz 2000). A time-series model attributed a 232-million-pack sales reduction (1990-1992) to the media campaign alone, versus 819 million to the 25-cent tax (Hu 1995). In a 1990-91 quitter survey, 6.7% spontaneously credited an ad and 34.3% said ads played a part (Popham 1993).

Sponsor (who paid)

Credits (who made it)

Executions (individual ads)

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. Pierce JP et al. Has the California tobacco control program reduced smoking? JAMA 1998;280(10):893-9 evaluation · 1998 · DOI 10.1001/jama.280.10.893 · PMID 9739973
  2. Fichtenberg CM, Glantz SA. Association of the California Tobacco Control Program with declines in cigarette consumption and mortality from heart disease. N Engl J Med 2000;343(24):1772-7 evaluation · 2000 · DOI 10.1056/NEJM200012143432406 · PMID 11114317
  3. Hu TW, Sung HY, Keeler TE. Reducing cigarette consumption in California: tobacco taxes vs an anti-smoking media campaign. Am J Public Health 1995;85(9):1218-22 evaluation · 1995 · DOI 10.2105/ajph.85.9.1218 · PMID 7661228
  4. Popham WJ et al. Do anti-smoking media campaigns help smokers quit? Public Health Rep 1993;108(4):510-3 evaluation · 1993 · PMID 8341788
  5. Siegel M et al. Trends in adult cigarette smoking in California compared with the rest of the United States, 1978-1994. Am J Public Health 2000;90(3):372-9 evaluation · 2000 · DOI 10.2105/ajph.90.3.372 · PMID 10705854

Research notes

US-CA. Program created after Proposition 99 (1988); media campaign began 1990. Agencies over the years not verified here (check Tobacco Control and CDPH archives). Ad library search: "California Department of Public Health", "Tobacco Free CA" / "Tobacco Free California" (CDPH consumer brand; verify page name). Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Golin (PRovoke, read via Wayback, 2020: California retained Golin, 'awarding the firm a lucrative contract to continue handling the state's anti-tobacco PR work'; Golin was incumbent before 2020, start year not found).

Record cases/ca-tobacco-control-program.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign