In 1994, Arizona voters approved Prop. 200, a cigarette tax which would fund anti-tobacco use educational programs. After a couple of years of ramp-up AzTEPP, the Arizona Tobacco Education and Prevention Program hit its fully funded stride in 1998.
Coincidentally, the same year that Kozmo the anti-smoking Alien was born. Kozmo's all-important message is printed on his 5-inch tall Beanie Baby-meets-X-files stomach in a shagadelic, Austin Powers-y font: "Tobacco: Tumor Causing, Teeth Staining, Smelly Puking Habit."
It looks crazy now, but Kozmo did stop the entire population of Arizona from smoking for ten years and counting. This historical relic can be yours for your child to chew on in just a few days.
'KOZMO' ARIZ. TOBACCO EDUCATION ALIEN BEAN BAG !!!!! first bid, $1+3 s/h, auction ends Sept. 8 [ebay]
I was a few years past the target market for the ad campaign, but I gotta tell ya...I can recite the tagline in my sleep, and I guarantee any Arizonan between the ages of about 25-35 could do the same.
Why a green alien? I don't know a lot about marketing but I don't get it. Why not use something related to smoking?
What surprises me the most is that it actually worked.