RETAIL : Breath of Fresh Air: Stop-Smoking Ads Tackle NFL Broadcast

Ah, football in the air. Time to settle in with something cold, something crunchy and some over-the-counter, non-prescription, nicotine-free, stop-smoking aids. Advantage Life Products Inc. of Laguna Hills plans to advertise its CigArrest stop-smoking aids on CBS Radio broadcasts of “NFL Monday Night Football” games starting Oct. 1.

The company, which distributes a line of stop-smoking gum, tablets and vitamins, will spend $351,000 on the 10-week ad campaign.

Donald Danks, a spokesman for Advantage Life Products, said football fans include a heavy concentration of male, blue-collar workers who are also more likely to be smokers. He said a summer-long ad campaign during CBS Radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball games has boosted per-store sales for its national accounts by 12% to 15%.

Danks said his company, which posted revenue of $11.1 million for its fiscal year ended April 30, is shadowing cigarette advertisers with its strategy. “If you go look at merchandising in sports arenas, tobacco companies are everywhere,” Danks said. “If we went through doctors’ offices, we’d only reach a few hundred people. This way, we reach a few hundred thousand.”

Danks said the ads will feature a humorous man-on-the-street interview with a fictional smoker who has quit successfully--53 times.