Helpers!

This is one of the funniest and weirdest cartoons we've ever seen. Check out our collection of the Helpers' webisodes, and prepare to be creeped out at the thought of smoking!

There's 2 new videos every month so re-visit this entry or go to the EU Helpers website for your next dose of craziness.

Smoke & Mirrors

Congratulations to the winners of Smoke & Mirrors' film competition. We think they're awesome and really effective.



You can see more about their campaign @ Smoke & Mirrors website

Lung Cancer Awareness Month

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month and Cancer Research UK have published some important facts that you should know about lung cancer and smoking.

• Lung cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the UK
• In 2006, around 39,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK, that’s 107 people every day
• The link between tobacco and cancer was established more than 50 years ago.
• Smoking causes almost 90% of lung cancer deaths.
• In Britain, around 1 in 5 adults smoke cigarettes, that’s about 9.5 million people.

Read more @ Cancer Research UK

Smoke Screen Success

Well, MTV Smoke Screen has finished and it's been a huge success for a lot of the guys who have managed to quit the habit. Their final video diaries are up so you can see the advice they have to give at the end of it all. We saw British girl Rachel last month, so let's check out what she has to say about becoming a non-smoker!



Visit the MTV Smoke Screen website

MTV Smoke Screen & quit because...

One of our quit because... presenters - Alison Walsh - is Miss Quit for the next month as she helps out some guys and girls from all over Europe to stop smoking.

She's working with MTV on Smoke Screen. It's a website following their attempts to quit through video diaries, which Miss Quit comments on and gives them her expert advice!
















Here's one of the Brits - Rachel, who's from London and studying in Manchester:


























Visit the MTV Smoke Screen website

A Smoker's Tale

Okay, so the NHS were just a little bit behind our Sexiness In A Stick video, but their short film about Megan - a 16 year old smoker - is also pretty cool!

Smoking on the Buses

Commonunity Arts is a great organisation working with the youth in Leicester. They got some opinions from the streets on a subject that a lot of you guys feel strongly about.

Anti-Tobacco Protestor Makes a Statement!

An anti-tobacco protestor hijacked an art project in Trafalgar Square today. His stunt highlighted the deaths caused by the tobacco industry, and how they get Hollywood actors to promote their products. His sign showed the estimated figure of 1 billion deaths that could be caused by smoking this century.

Cigarette Machines are Totally out of Order!

The British Heart Foundation wants a total ban on cigarette vending machines. These machines let 46,000 children a year get hold of cigarette packets in England and Wales! Yesterday, QUIT and the British Heart Foundation were at the House of Lords to present this undercover video podcast to some very important MPs:



BHF helped to get these machines banned from Scotland. We think that the video podcast shows how important it is for them to be taken out of English and Welsh pubs.

Check out the British Heart Foundation's campaign site here.

31st May 2009 is World No Tobacco Day

The World Health Organization's annual World No Tobacco Day is on the 31st of May. This year's campaign is promoting the use of shocking images on cigarette packets instead of making them seem cool (which they're obviously not) with slick packaging. They're pretty effective as you can see.

Check out WHO's official page about the day, where you can see their posters and flyers and read more about the issues.

Last year's campaign was all about how cigarettes are portrayed by the media as glamorous fashion accessories. The tobacco industry also uses the media to target young people through advertising.

The tobacco industry spends billions of dollars each year spreading its marketing net as widely as possible to attract young customers, targetting youth in fun and familiar environments, at the movies, on the internet, in fashion magazines, and at music concerts and sports events.

Last year's site is still full of great information and interesting videos!

In related news, Ireland will ban tobacco advertisements starting from July.

Retailers will have to ensure tobacco products are kept out of sight in shops from July 1, under strict new Department of Health guidelines.

The guidelines also warn that not even a hint of any tobacco advertising can be visible in the shops.

In addition, customers must be shown just one packet of cigarettes at a time.

Read more

Quit Because on Britain's Next Top Model!

Last night, LivingTV aired episode 4 of Britain's Next Top Model 5. The show culminated in a photoshoot which promoted several charities by visually depicting their respective causes. One of those charities was QUIT, with Quit Because presenter Alison Walsh in the studio providing the contestants with expert advice on how to portray the effects of smoking!

You can read The Sun's article previewing the episode here.

Photographs courtesy of Britain’s Next Top Model on Living.

Check out the footage below, with Quit Because and Ali featured at 0:40 and 8:38 into the video!

British Annual Tobacco's AGM Demonstation

ASH Wales organized a demonstration outside the annual general meeting of BAT last week. Quit Because presenters Ed, Hayley and Michelle joined forces and protested out on the frontline.

It was good to see some really enthusiastic young people from London, Wales and Liverpool challenging members of the tobacco company. They did it in a polite and friendly way but really drove the point across. They also made some really great banners.

- Hayley

Last year, ASH and Ffaith laid out 1,000 shoes outside the BAT's AGM to symbolise the 100,000 Africans killed by BAT products each year.

British Annual Tobacco is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. The tobacco industry is well aware of the risks of smoking, yet they continue to endanger people’s health and negatively affect the environment.

Martin Broughton, BAT's executive chairman, advised his children not to smoke, according to an interview in the Times. He said his son and daughter do not smoke but that he would have warned them if he "caught them behind the bike sheds" when they were younger.

"I said to them, 'I would advise you not to smoke. But if you want to smoke it is your affair. It is not good for you. You are better off not smoking'."

Read more about what the tobacco industry really thinks.