The FDA is launching a new campaign to urge smokers to give up their habit--and the project is focusing some of its efforts on Kings County.
The campaign is called “Every Try Counts” and it targets adult smokers who’ve tried to quit in the past but failed.
It’s sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, says the campaign involves posters, signs and billboards near gas stations and convenience stores, where people tend to buy cigarettes.
"They’ll be at the gas pump, they’ll be on the windows, they’ll be on the doors, they’ll be on the shelves, they’ll be on the floors," he says.
Kings County is one of only three California counties to host the campaign, along with Butte and Stanislaus counties—all of which have some of the highest smoking rates in the state.
Zeller says the campaign targets those who’ve already tried to quit because they may need an extra nudge to try again.
"So many smokers have had so many unsuccessful quit attempts that they’re hesitant to try again for fear that they’re not going to succeed," he says. "And what we’re trying to convey with this message is literally, literally, every try counts."
The campaign will roll out later this month.
