Six anti-smoking public service announcements (PSA) were recently completed through a joint effort by Penn State Public Broadcasting and University Health Services (UHS).

The PSAs were partially funded by money that came from the Pennsylvania Department of Health through a large tobacco settlement and are part of a county-wide initiative started by UHS to combat tobacco use.

The topics of the spots are the health impacts of smoking on men and on women, cigarette industry youth marketing, cigarette industry marketing towards women and people of color, and the hazards of second hand smoke. Each spot is based on a series of posters designed by the Department of University Publications.

According to Linda LaSalle, community health educator with UHS, the PSAs are designed to increase awareness about the health impact of tobacco products and also to increase awareness about how the tobacco industry markets its products to youth, women and minorities.