A new approach, using proven tools.

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• Who: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Goal/Scale: Encourage U.S. adults to quit smoking; a national campaign has been ongoing since 2012.
• Approach/Investment: Features graphic, real-life stories across major media (TV, digital, print, radio). Represents a significant federal investment, considered a public health "best buy" (costing ~$480 per smoker who quit and $393 per year of life saved in its first year; analysis for 2012-18 showed ~$3,800 spent per death averted).
• Reach/Impact/ROI: Generated over 16.4 million quit attempts and helped approximately 1 million smokers quit successfully (2012-2018). It prevented an estimated 129,000 early deaths and saved an estimated $7.3 billion net in healthcare costs during that period, showcasing a substantial positive ROI. The campaign also drove over 2 million additional calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW (2012-2023).

• Who: Truth Initiative (non-profit funded via tobacco settlement); preceded by state campaigns (e.g., Florida Dept. of Health).
• Goal/Scale: Prevent youth and young adult tobacco initiation, including vaping; national reach, ongoing since 2000.
• Approach/Investment: Uses youth-focused "counter-marketing" via TV, digital, and social media to expose industry tactics. Represents a significant investment funded by the Master Settlement Agreement (Florida's initial 1998 state campaign launched with $25 million).
• Reach/Impact/ROI: Achieved high awareness among youth/young adults. Credited with preventing hundreds of thousands from starting smoking (an early estimate suggested 450,000 in the first 4 years). A 2019 cost-effectiveness study of the "FinishIt" phase estimated it generated $3 billion in societal cost savings and returned $174 in societal benefits for every $1 spent.

•  Who: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), often partnering with the Ad Council.
• Goal/Scale: Increase seat belt use; national reach through periodic, high-visibility enforcement mobilizations.
• Approach/Investment: Combines increased law enforcement with intensive PSA bursts across multiple media. Involves significant annual federal/state investment (e.g., a 2024 national paid media buy was $11.2 million for ~3 weeks).
• Reach/Impact/ROI: Successfully contributed to raising the national seat belt use rate to over 91% (2024). Seat belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives in 2017 alone. NHTSA estimates seat belt use prevented $17.8 trillion in societal harm (including quality-of-life valuations) between 1975-2019, demonstrating an enormous ROI for buckling up and the campaigns promoting it.

•  Who: U.S. Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council.
• Goal/Scale: Prevent human-caused wildfires; national, longest-running U.S. PSA campaign (since 1944).
• Approach/Investment: Uses the iconic Smokey Bear character, memorable slogan ("Only You Can Prevent Wildfires"), PSAs, and educational outreach. Has leveraged over $2 billion in donated media time and space over its history.
• Reach/Impact/ROI: Achieved near-universal recognition (historically 96% of adults). Credited with significantly reducing the number of acres burned annually by wildfires compared to the pre-campaign era (millions of acres saved). Preventing large wildfires avoids immense costs associated with suppression, property loss, and environmental damage, yielding a substantial, though hard to precisely quantify, long-term ROI.

•  Who: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council.
• Goal/Scale: Reduce alcohol-impaired driving fatalities and injuries; national reach, highly prominent from 1983 through the late 1990s.
• Approach/Investment: Focused on empowering friends/family to intervene, popularized the "designated driver" concept via PSAs and a ubiquitous slogan. Leveraged significant donated media time.
• Reach/Impact/ROI: The slogan became part of American culture; over 68% exposed reported taking preventative action at one point. The campaign is credited with contributing to a major shift in social norms and a significant decrease in alcohol-related traffic deaths during its run (fatalities dropped roughly 40% between 1982 and 1999). Preventing these crashes provides immense ROI, saving lives and avoiding billions in associated economic costs (NHTSA valued the societal harm per fatality at $11.3M in 2019).

• Who: The Jed Foundation (JED), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and the Ad Council.
• Goal/Scale: Empower young adults (16-24) to start conversations about mental health with friends; national, digital-first focus, ongoing since 2018.
• Approach/Investment: Uses relatable online content, social media influencers, and celebrity involvement to destigmatize conversations. Leverages donated media and talent participation (an early report cited $2.6M in donated media).
• Reach/Impact/ROI: Garnered billions of media impressions, over 50 million video views, and over 2 million website visits. Campaign awareness grew, and ad-aware teens reported being +30% more likely to talk to a friend about mental health. By encouraging peer support and help-seeking, the campaign aims to prevent mental health crises and suicide attempts, which has a significant ROI in terms of lives saved and averted healthcare/societal costs.

These examples are estimates based on public information, they clearly illustrate that well-designed and adequately funded campaigns, leveraging proven marketing principles, can effectively influence public behavior and create positive, lasting change in habits.