“E-cigarettes Are Not OK At All,” an anti-smoking advertisement campaign (Image courtesy of the Ministry of Health and Welfare)
SEJONG, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Promotion Institute announced on October 9 that they will launch their second anti-smoking advertisement campaign of the year, titled “E-cigarettes Are Not OK At All,” running from October 10 through the end of the year across various media platforms.
This latest campaign aims to challenge the lenient attitudes towards e-cigarettes by presenting specific scenarios in everyday settings such as homes, workplaces, and social gatherings. The initiative seeks to raise awareness among e-cigarette users about the risks associated with their habit.
The campaign was prompted by alarming findings from a 2022 study on e-cigarette usage patterns and perceptions, conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the University of Ulsan.
The research revealed that approximately 8 out of 10 e-cigarette users admit to secretly using their devices in both indoor and outdoor non-smoking areas.
The most common locations for covert use were inside homes, cars, and outdoor non-smoking zones. Notably, multi-tobacco product users reported higher rates of secretive use.
Reflecting these “stealth vaping” behaviors, the new advertisements depict various scenarios of secondhand e-cigarette exposure in daily life. By showing bystanders unaware of their exposure, the campaign emphasizes that e-cigarette use affects not only the users but also those around them.
The advertisements employ special effects to visually represent the deteriorating faces of those exposed to secondhand vapor, aiming to evoke psychological discomfort in smokers through this stark imagery.
Set to run until December 31, the campaign will be broadcast across multiple platforms, including terrestrial TV channels, social media, radio, online platforms, and outdoor media.
Bae Gyeong-taek, director of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s health policy bureau, stated, “Our country’s tobacco control policies are based on the premise that all tobacco products are harmful.”
He added, “Through this advertisement, we aim to widely publicize the dangers of e-cigarettes and ultimately strive to create a tobacco-free South Korea.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
