Pride Month is a moment for celebrating queer joy, and a chance to address an urgent truth: LGBTQ+ adults are nearly twice as likely to use tobacco products than other populations, a disparity fueled by decades of targeted marketing.
Impact Media partnered with Truth Initiative, the nation’s largest nonprofit fighting youth and young adult nicotine addiction, to create a campaign that empowered, not shamed. Our mission was simple: give LGBTQ+ audiences free tools to quit nicotine use, without blaming them for starting or struggling to stop.
We built a social-first branded content series around three clear goals:
By pairing historical truth with a beloved queer voice, we created a campaign that informed, inspired, and sparked change.
Shame doesn’t change behavior, it turns people off. Public health campaigns targeting marginalized communities too often lead with judgment, alienating the very people they’re meant to help.
Impact Media and Truth Initiative flipped that script.
Our creative opened not with stats, but with story: a history of how Big Tobacco deliberately courted LGBTQ+ consumers through ads in queer media, Pride sponsorships, and even high-profile donations to AIDS research — all while profiting from nicotine addiction. By reframing tobacco use as the result of systemic exploitation, we shifted blame away from individuals and toward the industry.
This cultural grounding created space for empathy and solutions. We introduced EX Program as a free, accessible resource to quit smoking, vaping, and any nicotine addiction — supported by a familiar, trusted voice: Katya Zamo. Katya’s candid testimony transformed quitting from an abstract idea into a lived possibility, offering peer validation that resonated across LGBTQ+ audiences.
Our creative approach followed a deliberate arc:
Context → Cause → Community → Call-to-Action.
We humanized the “why,” delivered the “how,” and left audiences with a path forward on their journey to quitting, not a lecture.
The response proved it: empowerment drives action.
The campaign delivered 1.3M+ views — 1.7x above benchmark — with content that stopped scrolls and sparked conversation. Our messaging didn’t just reach people; it moved them with education and a tangible resource.
We drove 50,000 direct actions toward EX Program, converting awareness into tangible steps toward quitting. Engagement data showed that embedding Katya’s first-person testimony outperformed static program messaging, validating our strategy of leading with cultural credibility and lived experience.
By pairing historical truth with a hopeful path forward, we built a campaign that replaced shame with solidarity. When you meet communities where they are, public health behavior change follows.
