Quit Tasmania launches campaign urging young Tasmanians ‘Don’t Let Vaping In’ via Showpony

Quit Tasmania (part of Cancer Council Tasmania) has partnered with Showpony to tackle the challenging issue of growing vaping addiction in young Tasmanians, and provide support for those experiencing addiction.

For young Tasmanians, it’s easy to ignore the potential harms of vaping. But, for a group that is enjoying their first real sense of independence, it’s alarming to know how much nicotine dependence could be controlling their behaviour. They may not even realise they’re addicted to vaping until it begins to overtly affect their wellbeing.

Abby Smith, Quit Tasmania Director said, “We knew a traditionally executed campaign wouldn’t connect with this younger generation. We needed to find an innovative way to integrate messaging into content the audience was already consuming on social media.”

Brought to life on Tiktok and Snapchat, the Don’t Let Vaping In campaign highlights the dangers of vaping dependence by translating addiction symptoms into the comparable, toxic personality traits of an online troll. Dubbed Vap3_qt, this antagonistic character is shown stalking, creeping and slowly but surely taking control of young people’s social videos.

When users viewed, liked or commented on these original videos, Vap3_qt was able to target them directly. It began interacting with them in real time, commenting on their posts, accessing their social networks and displaying all the toxic online behaviours that reflected the experience of growing addiction.

And when users clicked on Vap3_qt’s profile to identify or report this ‘troll’, the true purpose of the campaign was revealed.

Says Nic Maumill, Creative Director at Showpony: “Meeting the audience where they were already interacting was crucial to our message cutting through, and the placements actually helped shape the creative. This is when having a media agency in our network becomes a huge advantage.”

Says Mellissa Roberts, Managing Director of Showpony Media: “Digital natives are only too familiar with the types of trolling and stalking they see online daily. With trolling and addiction sharing many of the same manipulative characteristics, we could use this frame of reference to help them immediately understand the nature of addiction and potentially even recognise it in their own lives.”

Says Abby Smith, Director at Quit Tasmania: “Young people who vape are five times more likely to start smoking compared to those who don’t – putting them at risk of a lifetime of addiction. This innovative campaign is helping to empower young Tasmanians to be vape and smoke-free.”

The campaign has been funded by the Tasmanian Government and officially launched by Tasmania’s Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing. The launch coincides with the introduction of nation leading legislation to protect young people by only allowing access to vaping products to people over 18 years with a doctor’s prescription via pharmacies.

Early results support the decision to take a social-led approach to targeting this audience. In less than three months, the campaign has delivered over 5 million views with thousands of young Tasmanians clicking through to the website for support and resources.

If you, or a young person in your life is in need of support with vaping addiction, go to quittas.org.au/dontletitin or text QUITVAPE to 0447 987 230.

Client: Quit Tasmania
Abby Smith – Quit Tasmania Director
Pip Cooper – Social Marketing Coordinator
Callum Mckendry – Marketing Campaign Project Officer

Creative Agency: Showpony
Parris Mesidis – Executive Creative Director
Claudia Steven – General Manager
Nic Maumill – Creative Director
Jermaine Rowe – Senior Copywriter
Nathan Moore – Senior Art Director
Annika Turon-Semmens – Junior Art Director
Felipe Carrasco – Motion Graphics Designer
Patrick Cotter – Filmmaker
Min Jung – Lead Developer
Alex O’Neil – Agency Producer
Bryony Diggle – Senior Account Manager
Macey Wood – Account Manager

Media: Showpony Media
Melissa Roberts – Managing Director
Hayley Clinch – Digital Director

External Suppliers
Gaffer – Dan Ross
Sound Recordist – Oliver McLoughlin
Photographer – Alex Robertson
Hair and Makeup – Tracy Phillpot
Casting – RMT
Sound Production: Seeing Sounds