Problem/Objective: A content analysis of anti-smoking public service announcements (PSAs) is reported. The goals of the research were to investigate the content of available ads to identify structural and thematic characteristics.

Methods: The 544 ads coded included all ads released by the CDC media resource center from 1998 to 2003, ads from Vermont from the years 2002 through 2005 and madebyyouth and madebygirls ads which were retrieved through web searches. A coding scheme was developed and two raters were trained. Inter-rater reliabilities ranged from alphas of 0.69 to 0.84. Discrepancies were resolved by discussion.

Results: Results indicated that the most prevalent ad theme was the health consequences of smoking, including death (19%). Next most common were themes emphasizing negative aspects of the tobacco industry (17%), the image smoking projects -- smoking is uncool or unattractive (15%), tips for quitting (12%), and the consequences of second hand smoke (10%). Importantly, themes related to the functions of smoking for the smoker are largely absent in this set of ads: only two ads emphasized the theme of stress relief, and none addressed mood regulation or weight control.

Conclusions: These data have important implications. First, the coded data facilitate locating ads to target specific audiences. Additional ad codes include target audience, sensation value, and emotional tone of the ad. Second, new ads should be developed to address the functional aspects of smoking – stress reduction, weight control, and mood regulation. Finally, future research needs to evaluate the effectiveness of various antismoking themes on different target audiences.