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11.20.14 ACS CAN Launches #FightSmokingNY Social Media Campaign
November 20, 2014
For media inquiries, contact:
Marc Kaplan – 518-796-1038 (cell)
Take Selfies to Fight Smoking in New #FightSmokingNY Campaign
Campaign Aligns with Great American Smokeout as New York Smoking Rates Soar
New York, NY (November 20, 2014) – To celebrate the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout on November 20, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is launching a social media campaign to encourage New Yorkers to keep up the fight against tobacco. The campaign, called #FightSmokingNY, asks social media users to share their reasons for joining the battle against smoking across Facebook and Twitter, in the hopes that it will motivate others to fight for policies that will help smokers quit.
The #FightSmokingNY campaign will span the state and will be powered by survivors, family members, doctors, caregivers, elected officials and other advocates who are committed to the fight against smoking. To participate, there are four simple steps:
- Download and print a #FightSmokingNY sign template at fightcancer.org/ny.
- Write down your personal motivation to join the fight against smoking.
- Photograph yourself holding the sign.
- Share the picture on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #FightSmokingNY. Participants can also tweet it to @ACSCAN_NY.
“Beginning with this year’s Great American Smokeout, we want to blanket social media with reasons to quit smoking,” said Michael Davoli, NYC grassroots manager with ACS CAN. “Whatever your reason – whether it’s a lost loved one, a child whom you want to never smoke or simply a desire to see a world without smoking-related disease – we’re asking you to share it with the world. Social media is a powerful tool and if we can spread enough positive reinforcement to join our fight, then we can impact real policy change.”
This year’s Great American Smokeout, a day designed to encourage tobacco users to make a plan to quit, comes at a pivotal time for New York. Though New Yorkers have made huge strides against tobacco, for the first time in years the number of smokers in New York City has surpassed 1 million people and there are over 2.4 million smokers in New York State.
While this year’s #FightSmokingNY campaign mobilizes the general public, ACS CAN wants to inspire movement through government action.
“Fortunately, we know exactly what works when it comes to tobacco control policy: fully funded, evidence-based tobacco prevention and cessation programs, comprehensive smoke-free policies and regular and significant tobacco tax increases,” said Davoli. “We need New Yorkers to spread a lifesaving message, but we also need New York lawmakers to put this into action.”
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
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