In the six months since it began campaigning to make East Baton Rouge Parish completely smoke-free, the Smoke-free EBR coalition has spent roughly $300,000 on a media campaign to educate residents about the dangers of secondhand smoke, coalition member Lydia Kuykendal says.
The money has been spent on digital billboards—like the one rising above the eastbound lanes on Interstate 10 near the Washington Street exit—as well as multiple radio and television ads, and a social media push, says Kuykendal, a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society Action Network.
The coalition moved closer to its goal less than two weeks ago when six Metro Council members—Chauna Banks-Daniel, Joel Boé, Lamont Cole, Donna Collins-Lewis, Erika Green and Tara Wicker—introduced the item. The council is set to hold a public hearing and possible vote on the issue at its April 13 meeting.
“The idea is to continue with what we’ve been doing,” Kuykendal says.
She says they do not expect to ramp up their media campaign as the vote nears.
“I don’t know that we have the funds to ramp up,” she says, before adding, “I wish we had the money to ramp it up.”
The movement has picked up the support of the Louisiana branch of the American Association of Retired Persons and local health care providers.
The coalition consists of numerous health advocacy groups, including The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association in Louisiana and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Some of the organizations pooled money together for a coordinated attack, while some ran ads by themselves.
The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living has spent about a quarter of the $300,000 on anti-smoking ads running on WAFB-TV and WBRZ-TV.
According to filings with the Federal Communications Commission, the New Orleans-based organization purchased 480 ads to run on WAFB from Feb. 1 to April 15 for $60,000. The organization paid $14,250 to run 150 ads on WBRZ from Feb. 18 to March 25.
The Louisiana Legislature banned smoking in all public buildings and restaurants in 2007, but bars and gambling facilities were exempted. Kuykendal has said the exemption is bad public policy and is unfair to the thousands of bar and casino workers who are exposed to secondhand smoke while on the job.
One representative from Pinnacle Entertainment, the parent company of L’Auberge Hotel & Casino, has said the company is closely watching the push for the ban. Spokesman Troy Stremming says if the ban passes, it could put the casino at a competitive disadvantage, noting casino markets in Lake Charles and Biloxi, Mississippi, do not have similar bans.
—Ryan Broussard
