Believe it or not, smoking is bad for you. Sure, we’ve all heard it a thousand times, and during our teenage years, most of us probably lit one up at some point or another out of curiosity. But those few puffs here and there can quickly turn into an addiction that can last years or even decades and cause health problems or even death. When the American Legacy Foundation decided to run an anti-smoking ad campaign, they ran into a big problem – how are you suppose to talk to a bunch of unreachable, stubborn, curious teenagers and actually convince them to listen? The foundation decided to tell the truth. The “Truth” campaign that launched in 2000 depicts ghastly images of body bags outside a tobacco company high-rise, rats dying from tobacco toxins and a 19-year-old girl with lung cancer. Most recently, a satirical singing performance bashes a statement from a tobacco company that said quitting the habit would cause domestic abuse.

Even though most of us have seen these commercials, I’m not sure we were all aware of the dramatic impact they have on teenage smoking. A new study revealed that from 2000 to 2004 the campaign prevented 450,000 teens from smoking. These staggering numbers prove that a creative concept combined with a little common sense can make a big difference.