Clear the Air

Client

Sherbourne Health Centre, Community One Foundation

Year

2011
Close crop of two posters. On the posters, there are several groups of diverse LGBTQ+ people connecting and laughing in a vibrant outdoor setting. The headline "Clear the air" is in the foreground of the design.

LGBTQ+ communities in Canada experience disproportionately high rates of smoking—nearly double those of the general population. This disparity is driven by a range of social and structural factors, including marginalization, internalized stigma related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and the legacy of queer bars as key spaces for community and connection. Compounding these factors, the tobacco industry has historically and deliberately targeted LGBTQ+ communities through marketing and sponsorship.

While past initiatives like Proud to Quit and Bent on Quitting have made important strides—with the latter demonstrating 40% efficacy through group-based cessation programs—there remains a significant gap in province-wide, community-informed interventions.

Types of Work

Branding, Copywriting, Creative Campaign, Graphic Design, Photography, Research, Strategy

The Need

Sherbourne Health Centre and the Community One Foundation partnered with The Public to fill that gap by offering accessible, empowering, and culturally relevant support for LGBTQ+ individuals who want to quit smoking, grounded in harm reduction and affirming of queer and trans lived experiences. The goals of the campaign are to:

  • increase smoking cessation among current smokers in the LGBTQ communities
  • increase awareness about how smoking impacts the LGBTQ community
  • increase awareness of the health risks and tobacco industry tactics
  • connect LGBTQ+ smokers with their health care providers
  • connect LGBTQ+ smokers with other members of the community who might be able to provide support

The Approach

For this project, we proposed a three-phase approach to support LGBTQ+ communities in quitting smoking: Awareness, Implementation, and Outreach. By meeting people where they are—visually, digitally, and socially—the campaign builds familiarity and trust, encourages active engagement through personalized tools, and leverages community networks to sustain momentum. Each phase works in tandem to ensure participants feel seen, supported, and empowered throughout their smoke-free journey.

The Idea

Clear the Air

Many mainstream campaigns fail LGBTQ communities because they don’t explicitly acknowledge both the oppressions that drive LGBTQ folk to smoke and the unique opportunities that can motivate these same communities to quit. 

Clear the Air stems from the questions, “What drives LGBTQ+ communities to quit, and what is worth working to save?” We believe that by acknowledging right off the bat that there are many oppressive factors driving LGBTQ+ communities to smoke and focus on the inherent strength and beauty in these communities, we can engage in a dialogue that draws connections between both the reasons to smoke (eg. oppression) and the reasons to quit (eg. community pride).The ask in this campaign is to focus on the positive aspects to identifying as LGBTQ+ — and to think of the ways in which smoking impedes on that.

The Work

The campaign visuals center LGBTQ+ joy—featuring images of community members connecting in vibrant outdoor settings. Portions of each photo are intentionally obscured by smoke, while others remain clear, symbolizing both the impact of smoking and the clarity, connection, and possibility that come with quitting.

There's a group of diverse queer men connecting and laughing outdoors and holding sparklers. The headline "Clear the air" is in the foreground of the design.
A close crop of the "Clear the Air" poster designs, with one flipped over to show the back of the design and the headline "Why smoke? Why quit?"

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