CANCER COUNCIL

A pioneer in using behavioural science to adapt commercial marketing techniques for public education, in the late 1960s the Anti-Cancer Council in Victoria organised prominent Victorian Football League (VFL) footballers to promote the quit smoking message. i In 1971, the Victorian Anti-Cancer Council traded on its respectability to push boundaries by securing community service spots for what broadcasters no doubt expected to be advertisements to promote cancer screening, but instead were hilarious spoofs of cigarette advertisements. ii The advertisements were quickly taken off air after complaints from tobacco companies, but prompted a flurry of news coverage that helped to build support for amendments to broadcasting legislation that would eventually see the end of TV advertising of cigarettes in Australia.

Also known as: The Cancer Council, Tobacco in Australia

Primary location: Hurley United Kingdom