Just Eliminate Lies (JEL)

Also: JEL

“Just Eliminate Lies”

Iowa Department of Public Health youth-led anti-tobacco movement and media brand (US-IA) from the early 2000s, described as the cornerstone of the state's youth tobacco work, with awareness falling after budget cuts around 2008.

Years: 2000–2009
Country: United States
Topic: Tobacco
Asks people to: Never start
Strategy: Industry denormalization
Channel: Events Radio School TV
Audience: Youth

Evidence

Self-reportedUnknown

State reports credited the tobacco program with a 31% fall in middle-school tobacco use 2000-2002; JEL awareness fell from 85% (2004) to 61% (2008) after cuts. No independent evaluation found.

Sponsor (who paid)

Iowa Department of Public Health, Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control State local government, funder and creator

Credits (who made it)

Not recorded yet.

Related campaigns

Florida "truth" 1998–2000
truth 2000–now

Sources

Iowa Department of Public Health publication (December 2005) sponsor · 2005
Iowa Legislature amendment H1089 (proposed suspension of JEL expenditures, 2008) reference · 2008
NPHIC conference paper on Iowa tobacco communications reference

Research notes

US-IA. Start year (about 2000) and end year (about 2009) are approximate; verify. Des Moines marketing partner not named in sources seen. Ad library: predates platform libraries; search "Iowa Department of Health and Human Services" for current tobacco work.

Record cases/ia-just-eliminate-lies.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign