Youth Vaping Prevention for Lung Foundation

Lung Foundation Australia needed to address rising vaping rates among Queensland tradespeople aged 18 to 25. This audience was resistant to traditional health messaging and often saw vaping as safer than smoking.

The objective was to develop a relatable educational campaign that challenged misconceptions, encouraged behaviour change, and reached young tradies in an authentic way.

We aimed to shift awareness by framing the issue through lived experience rather than authority. The goal was to make the message relevant, empowering, and accessible to a demographic not typically reached by public health communications.

We began with audience research, conducting two workshops with 11 apprentice tradies aged 18-25 to uncover key behavioural and cultural insights that would shape the entire campaign.

The workshops revealed surprising gaps in knowledge and critical authenticity issues. All participants believed vaping was healthier than smoking and were shocked to learn about toxic chemicals in vapes. Describing chemicals as “found in glue, weed killer and batteries” proved far more impactful than scientific names. Participants responded strongly to messaging framed around self-improvement and personal goals like buying festival tickets or tools.

Using these findings, we created two animated videos for a dual-strategy approach. The first linked workplace lung exposure to vaping risks. The second positioned quitting as self-improvement rather than compliance, highlighting freedom, time savings, and financial benefits.

The campaign ran during Tradies National Health Month on YouTube, TikTok and Meta. Through relatable storytelling and authentic visual style, the campaign transformed public health messaging into content tradies genuinely engaged with.