• Brandweek, Wednesday, May 2, 2007 11 AM

The American Legacy Foundation is changing the approach in its anti-smoking campaign, dumping its "Bob Quits, Mary Quits" campaign. "We've gained a lot of intelligence on what smokers need to hear," says Eric Asche, Legacy's senior vice president for marketing.

"Smokers feel marginalized, and we want the communication to use a smoker-to-smoker language." One new spot has a woman feeling around her car as if it's completely foreign, unable to figure out how to insert the keys or open the door before working her way to the wheel. "When you're used to always doing something with a cigarette, it can be hard doing it without one," says a voiceover.

A cigarette is then blocked out by an X, the icon of the campaign. "We're depicting a mental struggle in a physical way," said Russell Lambrecht, vice present-group creative director at GSD&M, the agency handling the campaign. "The idea of relearning how to behave without cigarettes is an 'a ha' moment. It's disruptive."

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