Aetna Inc.: The 11 Initiative

This case study describes how Aetna, the US-based healthcare company, gained substantial social and earned media exposure with an experiential stop-smoking campaign.

Aetna Inc.: The 11 Initiative

A study found every cigarette smoked decreases expected lifespan by 11 minutes. This is a depressing stat and we wanted to turn that around. So we reasoned that every cigarette you don't smoke could actually add 11 minutes to your life. We built a machine that allowed people to trade in a cigarette for a memorable 11-minute experience. Two days before the day the American Heart Association trumpets as "The Great American Smoke Out," we put the machine in downtown New York and filmed people's experiences with it. Experiences ranged from 11 minutes of unconditional...

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