United Kingdom: Impact of No Smoking Day

Abstract

No Smoking Day is a nationwide event held annually on the second Wednesday of March in the United Kingdom since 1984. It is organized by a coalition of national organizations. One of its main aims is to attract the maximum amount of publicity about smoking and health at the minimum cost to the organizers by deliberately creating news stories and events that are likely to be publicized by the media. The campaign has generated over 1 million words in free publicity every year over the past few years. Another aim of No Smoking Day is to encourage and assist smokers to quit on that Day, through a network of local organizers. A new image is created each year to keep the campaign fresh and to provide local organizers with ideas for activities. I report here the findings of surveys on awareness of and participation in the Day and its impact on smoking behaviour in the longer term.