Health communications interventions, including mass media campaigns designed to encourage individuals to quit tobacco or discourage youth from starting to smoke have been found to be an effective intervention to prevent and reduce tobacco use, according to the U.S. Surgeon General and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More information on health communications interventions and their effectiveness can be found in CDC's Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs – 2014.
Two agencies of the federal government ran different mass media campaigns for part or all of 2024 that seek to reduce and prevent tobacco use among different populations:
- CDC's Tips from Former Smokers media campaign, which targets adults who use tobacco and
- FDA's Real Costs campaign, which targets youth ages 12 to 17 with tobacco prevention messages.
Both mass media campaigns will continue to run in 2025.
The federal mass media campaign grade criteria are based off the reach, duration and frequency of these mass media campaigns as well as if the campaign refers people to available services that can help them quit.
The Federal Mass Media campaign grade breaks down as follows:
| Grade | Score |
|---|---|
| A | 22 to 24 points |
| B | 20 to 21 points |
| C | 17 to 19 points |
| D | 15 to 16 points |
| F | Under 15 points |
Reach (3 points for each campaign, 6 points total)
Target: Advertising from each mass media campaign reaches 75% or more of its target audience each quarter the campaign is running.
- +3 points: Media campaign reaches 75% or more of target audience each quarter
- +2 points: Media campaign reaches 55-74% of target audience each quarter
- +1 point: Media campaign reaches 1-54% of target audience each quarter
- +0 points: No media campaign
Duration (3 points for each campaign, 6 points total)
Target: Each mass media campaign runs for 12 months of the year.
- +3 points: Media campaign runs 9-12 months per year
- +2 points: Media campaign runs 6-8 months per year
- +1 point: Media campaign runs 1-5 months per year
- +0 points: No media campaign
Frequency (3 points for each campaign, 6 points total)
Target: Each media campaign has an average gross rating point of 1,200 for the 1st quarter the campaign is running and 800 or higher rating points for subsequent quarters.
- +3 points: Average targeted rating point of 1,200 or higher for 1st quarter of media campaign; average targeted rating point of 800 or higher for subsequent quarters
- +2 points: Average targeted rating point of 1,000 or higher for 1st quarter of media campaign; average targeted rating point of 600 or higher for subsequent quarters
- +1 points: Average targeted rating point of 800 or higher for 1st quarter of media campaign; average targeted rating point of 400 or higher for subsequent quarters
- +0 points: No media campaign
Promotion of Available Services (3 points for each campaign, 6 points total)
Target: Media campaign refers people to available resources that can help them quit tobacco use.
- +3 points: Media campaign refers people to available resources directly
- +1 points: Media campaign refers people to location where available resources can be accessed
- +0 points: Campaign does not refer people to additional resources
Page last updated: January 27, 2025