[3] The program assembled a team of advertising and public relations firms and collaborated with Florida youth to develop a campaign that would effectively speak to their generation.
[4] From this emerged the concept of uniting youth in a movement against tobacco companies promoted through grassroots advocacy and a youth-driven advertising campaign.
[3] In April 1998, Florida launched a $25 million advertising campaign that included 33 television commercials, seven billboards, eight print ads and four posters.
[3] With a target audience of youth aged 12–17, the Florida Truth campaign modeled their approach after commercial marketing to teens, and used messages that "attacked the [tobacco] industry and portrayed its executives as predatory, profit hungry, and manipulative".
[10] Many of the advertisements produced for the Truth campaign focus on selectively chosen facts about the ingredients in cigarettes and the consequences of smoking, including addiction, disease, and death.
[9] A large portion of the material included in the Truth campaign advertisements were are highlights from tobacco industry documents that were made publicly accessible following the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement.
The {campaign designers wanted to counter the appeal of cigarettes by encouraging teens to rebel against the duplicity and manipulation exhibited by tobacco companies.
[15] A third commercial, "1 out of 3", uses "fantasized scenes such as an exploding soda can" to convey the message that tobacco is the only legal product that prematurely kills one out of three users.
Through social media feedback and focus group testing, the campaign's designers concluded that teens respond best to "up-front and powerful messages that display courage and honesty in a forceful way.
"[16] The spot encouraged youth to get involved in the "Finish It" movement by superimposing the campaign logo, an "X" in an orange square, onto their Facebook profile picture.
This online activism tactic is similar to that used by the Human Rights Campaign when they asked individuals to change their profile pictures in support of marriage equality.
[20] In 2015, "Left Swipe Dat", a lengthy song and music video created as part of the "Finish It" campaign, debuted at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards and connected smoking to dating.
In another effort to connect smoking to a teen passion point, "CATmageddon" told teens that smoking is bad for pets and set up the scenario that if there were no cats (due to smoking-related illness and disease) there would be no cat videos and therefore there would be a "CATmageddon", a "world devoid of furry kittens and the adorable, hilarious videos that come with them."
In 2017, the Truth campaign focused on how the tobacco industry has targeted African-Americans, low-income communities, LGBTQ individuals, members of the military, and those with mental health conditions.
Initial documentary-style videos created for this campaign featured comedian and actress Amanda Seales and premiered at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Items are often created in partnership with artists, such as a pair of custom sneakers made in collaboration with Kevin Lyons and Vans shoes.
That partnership also included promotion of a contest called "Custom Culture" where students competed in design challenges relevant to the campaign's merchandise and subject matter.
A similar study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2009 found a direct association between youth exposure to Truth messaging and a decreased risk of taking up smoking.
[29] A study evaluating the "Finish It" campaign indicated lower intentions to smoke in the next year as well as anti-tobacco attitudes with higher ad awareness.
[43][44] Lorillard alleged that the ad was misleading and violated a provision in the Master Settlement Agreement that prohibits parties from engaging in "vilification" and "personal attacks".
"[43] The matter was decided by the Delaware Supreme Court on July 17, 2006, which ruled unanimously that the campaign did not violate the Master Settlement Agreement.