and the have collaborated again for its annual campaign to prevent smoking among 11-15-year-old. This year, the 鈥淥utsmart the Pack Trap鈥 campaign focuses on the potential impact of nicotine consumption on mental health.
Tobacco consumption has been shown to have a negative impact on mental health. According to recent studies, 62% of children aged 7 to 12 feel that mental health concerns should garner more attention from schools than physical health.
鈥淏ased on these alarming statistics, we had to do something about mental health. The idea for 鈥極utsmart the Pack Trap鈥 came to mind because we found the wordplay to be evocative for young people,鈥 said M茅lissa Charland, creative director at Publicis Montr茅al.
鈥淲e know now that more young people are facing mental health challenges than ever before, but few know that smoking can aggravate these problems or even trigger new ones. We thought it would be interesting to emphasise that aspect,鈥 revealed St茅phane Boudreau, RSEQ鈥檚 assistant general manager.
The campaign will also live as an educational card game. Designed to be both entertaining and instructive, the game enables young people to better understand the dangers of smoking on mental health and reflect upon different strategies to avoid falling into the cigarette trap, all in a fun, non-judgmental way.
The campaign is being rolled out on social media, billboards and television across Qu茅bec.