An interesting article in the ‘i’ newspaper on the impact the Government’s spending cuts on anti-smoking advertising. In the first quarter of 2010 the Government spend £860,000, with 125,000 people kicking the habit. But with ad spend dropping to £26,000 the numbers quitting smoking dropped to 86,000. And even here it is likely that some the effects of the previous quarter’s advertising would have carried over.
It is always tricky to prove cause and effect when it comes to the impact of advertising. But here the figures appear to be quite compelling. It’s stating the obvious, but a balanced approach needs to be maintained here between the immediate savings achieved from cutting advertising and the long term costs of smoking related illness for the National Health Service.
But perhaps the real cost comes from Governments not being more considered when it comes to working out the cost of their rhetoric.
