American Cancer Society, Will Rogers Institute and Entertainment Industry Foundation Team Up to Offer Help to Smokers

American Cancer Society, Will Rogers Institute and Entertainment Industry Foundation Team Up to Offer Help to Smokers

EUGENE LEVY STARS IN NEW IN-THEATER PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT RELEASED NATIONWIDE

LOS ANGELES, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Eugene Levy, comedic actor and star of dozens of blockbuster movies, appears in a new in-theater public service announcement released by the American Cancer Society, Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), and Will Rogers Institute that offers help to people who want to quit smoking. The goal is to reach millions of moviegoers across the country with this 30-second spot. Leading networks, Screenvision and National CineMedia, are running the PSA. Together, these networks reach thousands of movie screens and will reach millions of people across the country.

To view this ad, please visit http://www.wrinstitute.org/.

"I was delighted when the Entertainment Industry Foundation invited me to participate in the PSA with its partners, the American Cancer Society and Will Rogers Institute," says Levy, EIF ambassador for the campaign. "Hopefully this health message motivates smokers who struggle to quit to seek help and become former smokers."

Directed by acclaimed film director Paul Flaherty, Levy uses his trademark humor to show that while it is not easy to quit smoking on your own, help is available. "All it takes is a little movie magic to make a cigarette disappear," says Levy. On screen, the actor tries to make a cigarette vanish with "slick special effects." He concludes that there is nothing "magical about quitting smoking," and urges smokers to seek help by calling the American Cancer Society Quitline(r) toll-free at 1-800-ACS-2345.

Callers to the Quitline(r) are connected to trained counselors who offer tobacco cessation telephone counseling, self-help materials and community referrals. With guidance from a counselor, smokers can learn how to prepare for their quit attempt, develop strategies to help with cravings, and prevent relapse once they have quit. This service is clinically proven to double a smoker's chances of quitting and staying quit.

"The American Cancer Society works to provide the resources for smokers to quit, and we hope that this public service announcement will encourage smokers to call our free Quitline for help, anytime day or night," said John R. Seffrin, PhD, national chief executive officer, American Cancer Society. "People who quit smoking, regardless of age, live longer than people who continue to smoke, and quitting lowers the risk for certain types of cancer and other major diseases, including heart attack and stroke."

According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is associated with increased risk of at least 15 different types of cancer. In the United States alone, tobacco use is responsible for 438,000 premature deaths each year. Smoking accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths.

"The Will Rogers Institute is proud to team up with the American Cancer Society and the Entertainment Industry Foundation to provide this important and entertaining PSA," said Todd R. Vradenburg, Executive Director of the Will Rogers Institute. "By playing this PSA in theaters, we will reach a countless number of smokers and offer them real solutions to quitting."

"With Eugene's comedic genius and Paul's creative touch, this public service announcement should capture the attention of moviegoers and hopefully motivate smokers to call the American Cancer Society's national Quitline for help," said Entertainment Industry Foundation President and CEO Lisa Paulsen. "We are extremely grateful to the Will Rogers Institute for helping us bring this life-saving message to the big screen."

About The American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 13 regional Divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across the United States. For more information anytime, call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit http://www.cancer.org/.

About the Will Rogers Institute

The Will Rogers Institute is a program of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, a charity named after one of the greatest humanitarians, philanthropists and entertainers that ever lived, Will Rogers. Originally a hospital for tuberculosis-stricken vaudevillians, the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital became a national training facility for doctors treating patients with tuberculosis. Building on that foundation, the Will Rogers Institute is today a national charitable health program focused on research of debilitating lung disorders, medical school training fellowships, and distribution of free health education materials to the general public. The Institute recently became a national leader in providing life saving neonatal ventilator equipment to hospitals across the country. For more information, visit http://www.wrinstitute.org/.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation

The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), as a philanthropic leader of the entertainment industry, has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars -- and provided countless volunteer hours -- to support charitable initiatives addressing critical health, education and social issues. Through its initiative called Hollywood Unfiltered, EIF is committed to working from within the industry to reduce tobacco's negative consequences. Though this effort, the organization educates members of the entertainment industry about the impact smoking has on young people and the steps they can take to make a difference. Additionally, EIF has teamed up with Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF), with support from the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plan, to launch the first ever industry-led smoking cessation program that combines free counseling with low-cost medication for people in the entertainment industry who want to quit smoking. Called Picture Quitting, the success rates of this custom-tailored quit smoking program is twice those of the national average. Visit http://www.eifoundation.org/ and http://www.hollywoodunfiltered.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Entertainment Industry Foundation

CONTACT: Judi Ketcik of Entertainment Industry Foundation,
+1-213-240-3920; or Becky Steinmark Erwin of American Cancer Society,
+1-404-417-5860; or Todd Vradenburg of Will Rogers Institute, 1-877-957-7575

Web site:

http://www.eifoundation.org/
http://www.wrinstitute.org/
http://www.cancer.org/

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