BHF hijacks cigarette packs on No Smoking Day

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is marking this year’s No Smoking Day (March 13) by hijacking tobacco firms’ packaging using augmented reality (AR) app Blippar to encourage smokers to quit.

BHF-AR-2013

BHF is encouraging smokers to scan their cigarette packs using iOS or Android versions of the app when they will be served with 3D content showing them the items they could buy with the cash they’d save if they didn’t smoke.

The initiative marks the first time that product packaging has been hijacked in such a way and is part of a wider campaign focusing on the financial benefits of smoking cessation, employing the strap line “swap fags for swag.”

Betty McBride, director of policy and communications at BHF, says: “The tobacco giants are notoriously protective about their slick cigarette packaging – here’s a bit of slick that does some good for once. We need to up our game if we are going to help people beat their addiction to tobacco by finding new ways to reach out to them.

“We want to help the two thirds of smokers who tell us repeatedly that they’re desperate to quit.”

Once the app – or “blip” – displays content to the user, they are then directed to the website WeQuit.co.uk which contains further content assisting them to quit the habit.

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