‘Quit’, the anti-smoking group, has admitted to making use of an actor in its advertising campaign to potray someone suffering from oral cancer.
The advertisement shows a heavily made-up woman displaying rotten teeth, as well sores in the mouth and nose, who warns that smoking caused her mouth cancer. "If it didn't, I wouldn't be needing radiotherapy and chemotherapy," she says.Todd Harper, Quit executive director, said the agency had decided to use an actor instead of a patient because shooting a TV commercial can be demanding for the latter. "You've always got to put the interests of the patient first," he said. "
The commercial which has been funded by the state and territory smoking and health agencies, has accurately pictured the effects of mouth cancer, according to Mr Harper, who claims that, the number of calls to the Quit line had increased since the introduction of graphic warnings on cigarette packets and the new television ad.
