Interlex Expands Hispanic Anti-Smoking Campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 15, 2004
Contact:
Laura Sierra-Frame
Interlex
210-930-3339
210-930-3383 fax
San Antonio, Texas-The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has renewed its contract with advertising agency Interlex for its Hispanic Anti-Smoking Campaign: “Mi Familia No Fuma”, which in English means “My Family Doesn’t Smoke.”
Mi Familia No Fuma was developed completely in-language and in-culture to address the Hispanic community.
According to Interlex President & Creative Director Rudy Ruiz, “We saw an opportunity to tap into unique cultural attributes and dynamics to develop a smoking cessation and prevention campaign which would prove more effective than the literal translations of English-language General Market initiatives.”
According to Dr. Amelie Ramirez, Professor and Deputy Director of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research center at Baylor College of Medicine: “The strength of the Mi Familia No Fuma campaign springs from its focus on the family and their role in helping each other avoid the hazards of tobacco usage.”
Ruiz adds that “the campaign also taps into what we call the Hispanic aspirational mindset. Ours is an immigrant culture within which living generations have sacrificed a great deal for the opportunity to access the American Dream. This kind of progress is generational. As the Hispanic family triumphs in its quest, smoking is clearly a barrier to quality of life and the enjoyment of the rewards of success.”
Due to a legislative mandate, the campaign has been piloted in the Beaumont/Port Arthur market. The multimedia campaign includes a strong grassroots outreach component, which has also been implemented in heavily Hispanic areas of the State, including the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso. Initial results have been so successful that the American Cancer Society (ACS) has partnered with DSHS and Interlex to expand the campaign into the Austin market.
“We have much appreciation for the campaign design and the culturally sensitive message delivered to the Hispanic population through the campaign,” expressed Cristi Crider of ACS, “It is refreshing to find a source for a campaign that sends the very positive health message in a culturally sensitive way.”
Ruiz concludes: “We hope to bring the campaign to more parts of the State as partnerships and budgets allow for the opportunity.”
Interlex is a full service advertising, marketing and public relations firm specializing in public advocacy and social marketing campaigns that target both general and multicultural markets. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the agency serves government agencies, non-profit organizations and socially conscientious corporations in developing communications that generate a positive impact on the lives of diverse audiences.
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