“Outsmart Nicotine”: Truth Initiative launches national campaign to help young people quit vaping with EX Program

Quitting is hard, but with the right support, anyone can break free from nicotine addiction – and they don’t have to go it alone. That’s the message behind Outsmart Nicotine, a national campaign from Truth Initiative that empowers young people to break the cycle of nicotine addiction for good with an enhanced EX Program.

Despite a strong desire to quit, many young people are struggling and in need of proven resources and support. Outsmart Nicotine, an uplifting, multi-platform campaign designed to reach 18- to 24-year-olds, features science-backed tools, relatable storytelling, and a community of support. It launches with the ad “You Got This,” featuring A Tribe Called Quest’s iconic song “Can I Kick It?”, to inspire a culture of quitting by highlighting the small, everyday victories that can lead to a quit that sticks.

Acknowledging how hard quitting can be, the campaign continues with a variety of ads depicting the many ways people have tried to quit in the absence of proven-effective tools – including through hypnotherapy, eating spicy peppers, or covering an apartment with sticky note reminders to try to stave off cravings.

Instead of grasping in the dark and trying methods with no basis in science, the campaign offers a solution – try EX Program. EX Program is a comprehensive digital cessation intervention developed with Mayo Clinic over 15 years ago and reimagined to meet the unique challenges faced by young people today. Research published in JAMA Internal Medicine has shown that using EX Program can increase odds of quitting by up to 40%. People can join for free by texting EXPROGRAM to 88709. 

Outsmart Nicotine is designed to reach young adults aged 18-24, often dubbed the  “JUUL Generation” – those most impacted by the arrival of flavored, easily available e-cigarettes like JUUL nearly a decade ago. E-cigarette use remains alarmingly high among this group, with nearly 1 in 5 young adults at risk of lifelong nicotine addiction and many dual-using cigarettes or other products such as oral nicotine pouches. According to a report by Truth Initiative, e-cigarettes have become bigger, stronger, and cheaper, hooking young people on easily available and highly addictive illegal products.

A go-to guide for quitting smoking, vaping, or any tobacco or nicotine product

EX Program supports anyone looking to quit any kind of tobacco or nicotine product and has helped millions of people quit since its launch in 2008. It combines the most established online quit community, customized quit plans, interactive guides and tools, and advice and tips with our evidence-based text message program, formerly branded as This is Quitting and now part of EX Program.

Driving behavior change through national campaign to prevent addiction and empower quitting

The Outsmart Nicotine campaign builds on the equity and impact of the truth^® campaign, which helped drive down the youth smoking rate from 23% in 2000 to less than 2% today. When e-cigarettes presented a new challenge, the campaign also helped prevent more than 3 million middle and high school students from using e-cigarettes between 2019 and 2023. The 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey shows that youth e-cigarette use is the lowest in a decade. 

The campaign also features the Quit Collective, a powerful, relatable series featuring well-known content creators on social media who share their own quitting journeys and inspire others to take the first step toward freedom from nicotine. 

The enhanced EX Program and the Outsmart Nicotine campaign represents the next step in the fight for freedom from nicotine addiction. These efforts to influence behavior change and provide tools for quitting, combined with initiatives to reduce access to flavored nicotine at the retail level, can help protect young people, achieve a future free from lifelong addiction, and build a healthier and more resilient nation.