Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Health Department Unveils Scary New Anti-Smoking Ad
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 17, 2008
Modified Apr 17, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 17, 2008
Modified Apr 17, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Health Department launched its annual effort to get New Yorkers to stop smoking by rolling out another provocative ad. This one shows a woman whose smoking habit led to 20 amputations:
Like most smokers, Marie started smoking as a teenager. She developed Buerger’s disease, a condition that narrows arteries, reducing blood flow to the arms and legs. She has lost portions of most fingers, as well as a leg and a part of one foot. In the ads, Marie describes the pain she has endured and explains how her disability keeps her from doing even simple tasks. She also recounts how it affected her relationships with loved ones. “The light burned out in my kitchen and I can’t even change it,” she says. “My daughters might even have been embarrassed [by] what I was starting to look like. At one point, I wasn’t even living. I was just alive.”
You can see the TV spots here. Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said, "Not only do cigarettes kill 8,000 New Yorkers a year, they disable and disfigure many times that number. Thousands of New Yorkers suffer strokes, heart attacks, and amputations that cause irreversible damage every year."
The Health Department is giving away free nicotine patches and gum through May 1--just call 311. Apparently Marie was able to quit after calling 311 for patches in 2006; she said, "If telling my story to the public helps one person quit smoking, it’s worth it." And the Health Department's has said its previous anti-smoking ad effort, using a smoker whose larynx was removed, has been successful.
Tagged
amputation
anti-smoking
heath department
nicotine patch
stop smoking
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .