The stale smell of smoke on your clothes and in your car. The coughing fit every morning before you can get going for the day. Missing out on memory-making moments with your family, because you're stuck outside smoking a cigarette.

A new public awareness campaign from the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) illustrates these situations and more, in slice-of-life vignettes that show the many hassles smokers and those around them face; from the inconvenience of searching for a late-night pack of cigarettes to going outside for a smoke in a snowstorm.

The campaign, featuring television commercials, new radio spots and outdoor billboards, will launch this week. The underlying message of each of the advertisements is simple: "Make your life a little easier. Quit smoking." The campaign encourages people who smoke to call UDOH's Utah Tobacco Quit Line, at 1-888-567-TRUTH, or visit www.utahquitnet.com

The ads (viewed from the perspective of a "fly on the wall") play on the humorous, serious, or simply irksome situations in which people who smoke may find themselves. The concepts should hit home for smokers.

"We know how difficult quitting is and offer nothing but support for smokers and their families," said Lena Dibble, media coordinator, Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, UDOH. "We're hoping this campaign will create awareness among smokers of the many pitfalls and impediments smoking causes in their lives. It's that spark of self-recognition that may prompt them to seek help."

That help comes in the form of the Utah Tobacco Quit Line, which boasts a 34.9 percent quit rate for those adult smokers who participate in its intensive program, and the Utah QuitNet, which offers online counseling and support groups 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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