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EX^® Fact Sheet

10/17/2006

EX^® is an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting.

Overview

EX^® is an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting. Each year, more than 70 percent of smokers say that they want to quit, but only five percent are successful – a fact that shows that while smokers may know why they should quit, they just don’t know how. EX offers a step-by-step guide on how to quit successfully using proven methods. It was developed by the American Legacy Foundation®, a national independent public health foundation dedicated to preventing youth from smoking and providing resources to help smokers quit, along with tobacco treatment experts at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

EX Tools

EX encourages smokers to reach out for help from existing cessation resources.  The program includes a variety of tools that have been designed with input from former and current smokers to help smokers who want to quit and stay quit. All tools are intended to help smokers build personalized quit plans that help a smoker identify, avoid and overcome “triggers” – the times of day, situations and stresses that cause smokers to want a cigarette. EX provides smokers with the following resources:

• Access to state quitlines using 1-800-QUIT-NOW, the national, toll-free quit-smoking help line;
• BecomeAnEx.org, the campaign Web site that helps smokers select a quit-smoking date, create personalized quit plans and find online support from other smokers who are working to become EX-smokers; and
• The EX Quit Manual, a guide written by a former smoker and featuring a step-by-step approach to combining the tools that make it possible for a smoker to quit.

Quit-Smoking Plans

The EX plan was designed in collaboration with tobacco treatment experts at the Mayo Clinic to create an approach that makes the most of methods proven to help smokers quit. Each smoker will use these tools differently in his or her quit plan, but the basic elements include:

1. Counseling or coaching: Whether it’s from a doctor, 1-800-QUIT-NOW or online at BecomeAnEx.org, counseling is an important way for smokers to understand the role that smoking plays in their lives. Counseling or coaching can help smokers identify triggers – the behaviors, times of day or other elements that lead them to smoke – and plan ways to avoid these triggers as they work to quit smoking.
2. Medications: Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) such as the nicotine patch, gum, lozenges or approved non-nicotine prescription drugs can ease nicotine withdrawal and help smokers deal with their cravings. However, many believe some of these types of medications contribute to nicotine addiction. EX materials debunk the myths associated with NRTs and walk smokers through the detailed steps it takes to break nicotine addiction. 
3. Social support: Family members, friends and co-workers can offer support that makes a difference when smokers are trying to quit. Avoiding secondhand smoke and other societal smoking triggers or socializing in smoke-free places are a few examples of social support that can make a difference in a smoker’s quit attempt.

Advertising

EX is unique in that it speaks to the smoker from the perspective of a former smoker—an EX -smoker—from someone who’s been in their shoes and understands the issues. It’s real and straightforward with no “magic bullet” cures for quitting. Research indicates that most smokers who want to quit do not understand what it takes to treat their nicotine addiction, or underestimate how powerful that addiction can be. Therefore, EX seeks to reduce the physical and mental barriers by increasing knowledge and changing attitudes and beliefs about what we know works — treatments such as pharmacotherapy and telephonic counseling – which significantly aid smokers in being successful in their quit attempts.

For example, one television spot features a woman, who the viewer learns has quit smoking, as she imagines herself jumping from a second-story window just to reach the cigarette she’s been craving. Another TV ad shows how one man struggling to quit has personified his temptation to quit into an attractive young woman who tries to “lure him back” to smoking. Through these ads, EX is relating to smokers’ experiences and providing them with the information and support they need to quit when they are ready.

Advertising includes TV, radio spots and banner ads that drive smokers to 1-800-QUIT-NOW and the BecomeAnEx.org Web site, where they can find more tools and information to help them quit. The creative for the EX campaign was produced by GSD&M of Austin, Texas. GSD&M is the American Legacy Foundation®’s advertising agency of record for cessation initiatives.  

Test Markets

Legacy will pilot EX in four major cities, which were selected based on various criteria, including region of the country, adult smoking rates and ability to reach priority populations – groups that are disproportionately affected by tobacco-related diseased or targeted by tobacco-industry marketing efforts. Pilot markets are:

• Buffalo, New York: Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006 
• San Antonio, Texas: Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 
• Grand Rapids, Michigan: Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006
• Baltimore, Maryland: Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007

Based on the results from these pilots, the EX campaign will launch nationally in late 2007.