"Got Lungs?".

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 2000

"Got Lungs?" is the provocative question posed by a 49-foot billboard welcoming more than 200,000 travelers daily to New York.

As traffic pours out of the Lincoln Tunnel from New Jersey, approaching the bustling Port Authority Bus Terminal, they'll see the attention-grabbing sign every day for three months, beginning Nov. 9.

Below the phrase and a picture of a comely young woman are "QuitTobacco.com" and "1-800-EAT-MINT." The ad replaces the familiar AngryMan.com billboard.

"It's a 2-by-4, alright," said the man behind the board, Michael Arnold, spokesperson for the Oregon Mint Snuff Co. "The message is simple: If you want to save your lungs and your health, quit smoking and quit tobacco."

The Got Lungs billboard and print campaign promotes the recently launched Oregon 2-Step(TM) Quit Tobacco Program.

"The Oregon 2-Step is targeted at this country's 47 million smokers and 10 million chewing tobacco users. It's an effective, affordable, drug-free, do-it-yourself quit tobacco program," Arnold said.

"Step 1," he noted, "is for smokers to switch from cigarettes to chewing tobacco (in tiny pouch form) -- a safer nicotine delivery system. Step 2 is to switch from tobacco pouches to non-tobacco Mint Snuff Pouches(TM). They feel just like tobacco pouches, satisfy the need for oral gratification, and freshen the breath with none of tobacco's dangers."

Mint Snuff Pouches are miniature teabags filled with mint and mint oil crystals instead of tobacco. They're placed between the cheek and gum, and the flavor can last up to an hour.

"Smokers can reduce their exposure to cancer-causing tobacco by 50 percent, simply by alternating every other cigarette with a Mint Snuff Pouch," Arnold said. "From there, each smoker can set their own pace toward quitting tobacco or just cutting back. And Mint Pouches are a lot cheaper than cigarettes, so you can 'save a mint', while you save your health!"

New medical research is behind the company's quit-tobacco message. A University of Minnesota study concluded that Oregon Mint Snuff can reduce nicotine cravings. And, based on his research at the University of Alabama, oral pathologist Dr. Brad Rodu recommends that smokers who have trouble quitting should switch to tobacco pouches, a 98 percent safer form of tobacco. (Visit DrRodu.com for details.)

The Oregon Mint Snuff Co. put the research together and saw the obvious: smokers can switch to chewing tobacco pouches and then to Mint Snuff Pouches, or switch straight to Mint Snuff.

Mint Snuff Pouches are available at tobacco shops, food, drug and convenience stores; at some K-Marts that have a tobacco corral; Meijer Gas and Meijer SuperCenters, Ralph's, King Soopers, City Markets and Fred Meyer. For more retailers or to order, visit QuitTobacco.com or call 800/EAT-MINT.

"Every time you puff a cigarette," Arnold said, "you're rolling the dice with your health. The Oregon 2-Step will at least improve your odds!"

Note to Editors: For information on healthcare professionals nationwide who are successfully helping tobacco users quit with Mint Snuff, contact Michael Arnold at 516/528-3386 or [e-mail].

A high-resolution jpeg image of the Got Lungs billboard is available at www.gotlungs.com/billboard.htm

The Got Lungs artwork will be installed at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 9.