News

Driving home the message to butt out!

Mon, 24 Nov 2014 04:13:00

The high cost of smoking is being driven home to smokers in an innovative new campaign by Mallee District Aboriginal Services.

A specially-designed new Holden Barina is being used as a mobile billboard for the Quit Today program and as a stark and practical example of the financial cost of smoking.
“The reality is that for the pack-a-day smoker, this Holden Barina is what you could buy in two years, if you kick the habit,” said MDAS Healthy Lifestyle Worker Bianca Krause.
“If you give up a pack-a-day habit you save an average $20 a day for a pack of 25s or $140 a week – that’s the equivalent of a home deposit in a year, or a brand new car in two years,” she said.
The Barina is for the use of the Healthy for Life Program, which operates in Mildura, Robinvale, Swan Hill and Kerang and encourages and supports people to make healthy lifestyle choices. But Tobacco Action Worker Carl Kirby said the message would resonate with smokers right across each of the communities.
“The car looks great and it will be out and about every day, hopefully getting the message through to everyone – that the benefits of quitting smoking are more than just the physical ones, that you will notice a big difference in your pocket as well,” he said.
“We were hearing from the community that people are no longer really being moved by the scare campaigns about how many chemicals there are in cigarette smoke, or what effect it might have on their health in the future.
“So we decided to take this approach to reaching people with a really tangible and practical message that will hopefully prompt them to take that step to getting help to stop or cut down their smoking,”
The Healthy for Life team welcomed the generosity of Mildura Holden in making the vehicle available to MDAS for six months to carry the campaign message and to Exposed Signage for kitting it out with its eye-catching artwork.