'Own Your C' - Colorado's Youth Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Campaign

Abstract

In Colorado, the State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership (STEPP) at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) initiated a strategic plan to decrease tobacco use and encourage healthy behavior among teens. In 2006, STEPP partnered with Cactus, a Denver-based advertising agency, to create an integrated public education campaign that would be highly relevant to teens. The campaign, called "Own Your C", uses integrated digital media to empower teens to own their choices around tobacco and other risk behaviors. Own Your C campaign has gained traction among Colorado's youth, generating 47,000 visitors to ownyourC.com, reaching 4.5 million Colorado teens with TV spots and, conducting more than 430 events in each of Colorado's 64 counties reaching more than 75,000 students. More importantly, Colorado youth are receptive to the campaign and have actively engaged in the online community to converse about health-related topics, including tobacco. The average visitor spends six and a half minutes or more on the site and views 27 pages per visit. Furthermore, teens have thanked campaign leaders for being "refreshing" and "non-preachy."