The following story is about a smokefree TV ad in France that prompted
500,00 phone calls.

French Smokefree TV Ad
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) - TV viewers were alarmed. A commonly consumed product, they were
warned in an ad, had been found to contain frightening toxic substances.

Not surprisingly, half-a-million people called the toll-free number for
information, jamming the line.

The unnamed product was the cigarette, and the health institute that dreamed
up the ad said it was a big success.

``The goal was to wake people up and make tobacco a real subject of
debate,'' said Aurelie Martzel, a spokeswoman for the National Health
Institute for Prevention and Education. ``We're happy that it worked.''

The ad showed a silent message, written in white on a black background.

``Traces of cyanuric acid, mercury, acetone and ammonia have been found in a
product regularly consumed,'' read the ad, shown intermittently between
7p.m. and midnight. It also appeared in newspapers Monday.

The toll-free number was flooded by callers. At one point Sunday night, some
460,000 people called at about the same time, Martzel said.

Tobacco is the leading cause of avoidable deaths in France, Martzel said,
with 60,000 people dying each year of smoking-related illnesses.

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