2 Reno Stations Balk At Anti-Smoking Ads

RENO, Nev. (AP) — An anti-smoking campaign that uses close-up images of open-heart surgery to underscore the health risks of smoking is drawing a mixed reaction in Reno.

The Washoe County Health District say the ads made possible through federal grants have proven too graphic for a pair of Reno television stations that refused to air them before 10 p.m.

The message on billboards and print ads too is that smokers are “one cigarette away from a heart attack.”

District spokeswoman Erin Dixon agrees they are graphic but not inappropriate given the health risks.

KOLO-TV general manager Matt Eldredge says his station decided the spots are a bit too much to run early in the evening.

Dixon says KRNV-TV had the same opinion but the ads will run on KTVN, KRXI and Charter Cable.