Healthcare communications and marketing news and information

For those involved in health communications campaigns, it’s an common question: “Should I resort to scare tactics?”  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been in brainstorming sessions where I’ve argued with my colleagues about the merits of using disturbing images and messages in order to change health-related behaviors.  

However, as we all know, sometimes scary messages are the only thing that will get through to people engaged in unhealthy behaviors like smoking.  For example, over the past year, those living in the New York City area have become very familiar with Ronaldo Martinez.  In his television, radio and print advertisements he speaks through a voice box because his larynx was removed due to throat cancer.  

According to the New York Times, advertisements featuring Martinez were “scary enough to prompt thousands of New Yorkers to quit cigarettes last year.”  Interestingly, the campaign is not new.  The Times reports that the spots “were originally produced for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in the late 1990s.”  Harvard School of Public Health Professor Gregory Connolly said that Massachusetts “ran ads using athletes, politicians, rock stars and they don’t work. . . people said ‘I’m never going to win gold, but I could be Ronaldo.”

Interesting, people ignore advertisements with celebrities, but pay attention to one featuring someone “just like them.”  Does this theme sound familiar?

There are many examples of health communications campaigns that use scare tactics to garner attention and change behaviors.  Yet, debate still rages about the effectiveness of this strategy.  While encouraging fear is not the only way to change behavior, you have to admit, sometimes it works.  

To view an anti-smoking commercial featuring Martinez, please click here.