American Cancer Society, Will Rogers Institute and Entertainment Industry Foundation...

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.
SOURCE Entertainment Industry Foundation

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