The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop airing its "Tips From Former Smokers" ads at the end of September, ending a 13-year campaign that helped millions of Americans quit smoking.
Launched in 2012, the campaign featured real people sharing the devastating health effects of smoking -- and pointed viewers to free resources like the 800-QUIT-NOW helpline.
Independent research from RTI International showed that calls to the quitline surged whenever the ads ran and dropped sharply when they paused, CBS News said.
One success story is Leslie Allison-Seei, who quit smoking after more than 40 years. In 2014, she began coughing up blood and was rushed to the hospital, where her doctor urged her to stop immediately.
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