HHS and the Ad Council launches its campaign in March 2004, coinciding with the publication of a new study by the CDC reporting that 400,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2000 (17 percent of all deaths) were related to poor diet and physical inactivity, which may "soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of death."

Quote from Tommy Thompson, secretary of HHS: "We know that gloom and doom messages warning against weight gain don't work. These messages are provocative and attention-getting - but they are also empowering and achievable."

Quote from Brett Gosper, General Manager of the McCann Erickson New York agency: "If the challenge of living a healthier life becomes too daunting it can too easily fall to the bottom of a to-do list. Our campaign identifies memorable rewards - the loss of those "love handles" for instance - that begin with a commitment to simple lifestyle changes."

(source for all quotes: Ad Council news release, March 9, 2004)