Everyone has a strong enough reason to smoke and a strong enough reason to quit.

While smoking rates have been steadily declining in Florida, rural and low SES counties still have a high prevalence of smokers. This means our target audience is getting harder to get to, both geographically and from a messaging standpoint. So understanding this particular group was key in getting through to them.

A videographer, creative director and I set out to film a short documentary style video in order to get to know these unique peoples' realities. We found that the journey to quitting is driven by the hopes smokers have for themselves and their children. Which made us realize that focusing on the dangers of smoking was not the right way to get through. Instead, we should focus on their hopes and dreams for the future.

Additionally, while non-smokers tend to judge the smokers harshly, the reason why most smokers can’t quit is usually deeply personal and far from straightforward. With The Reasons campaign we humanized these reasons and created empathy by showing the back story of real smokers while reassuring them that no matter the reason, TFF won’t judge them. We will only help.