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Anti-tobacco television advertising helps reduce adult smoking — but some ads may be more effective than others, a new study found.

Higher exposure to state-sponsored, private, and pharmaceutical advertisements was associated with less smoking. Higher exposure to tobacco industry advertisements was associated with more smoking.

"On the surface, the tobacco-industry ads were mostly anti-smoking and a little corporate promotion, but they weren't promoting the act of smoking," said Sherry Emery, a senior scientist at the UIC institute and lead author of the study. "But the effect of the ads is that they are associated with more smoking."

The new study, in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health, looked at the relationship between adults' smoking behaviors and their exposure to smoking-related advertisements sponsored by states.

The researchers measured exposure to ads using Nielsen ratings data for the top 75 U.S. media markets from 1999 to 2007. They combined this data with individual smoking data and state tobacco-control-policy data.

An unexpected finding of the study was that adults who were in areas with more ads for pharmaceutical cessation products were less likely to make an attempt to quit.

"Since we looked at the total amount of exposure to anti-smoking campaigns — and the campaigns are very different — our data suggests that it may not matter what you say to people, just that you're saying it a lot," Emery said.

Most of the recent state-sponsored media campaigns were supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The researchers suggest that the recent increased funding for anti-tobacco campaigns may contribute to meaningful reductions in smoking among U.S. adults.