Chapel Hill, N.C. — A statewide anti-smoking campaign is reaching its target audience, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina medical school in Chapel Hill.

The “Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered.” Campaign, called TRU for short, airs anti-smoking messages directed at teenagers.

A survey of teenagers found that 95 percent of the teens who had seen the ads agreed they were convincing, attention-grabbing and gave good reasons not to use tobacco. A quarter of those surveyed said they had talked to friends about the ads.

More teens – 71 percent – said they were aware of the TRU program this year than the 54 percent who answered that way in 2006.

In fall 2006, the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund raised its support for TRU from $1.1 million to $4.5 million annually.

TRU began in 2004. It uses teenagers telling about their own tobacco experiences.