An anti-tobacco advertising campaign is in the works for the state of Wisconsin. Gov. Jim Doyle, along with members of the Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board, announced the campaign Thursday in Milwaukee.

The campaign is designed to highlight the economic costs smoking poses to the state of Wisconsin, in addition to the potential health dangers of secondhand smoke.

The advertising campaign will feature leaders from Wisconsin’s minority communities and interviews with residents discussing the negative impact of cigarette smoking.

“Wisconsin’s communities of color are disproportionately affected because big tobacco companies have begun targeting these communities to expand their profits,” said Doyle, claiming lung cancer is the leading cause of death among Wisconsin’s Native American, Asian, Hispanic and female population. Doyle also said that the rate of smoking during minority pregnancy among Wisconsin residents was twice the national average.

Earnestine Willis, a doctor at the Medical College of Wisconsin and chair of the Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board, said the ad campaign would be an effective way to help those who are addicted and to help prevent future addictions.

“Gov. Doyle was instrumental in winning the tobacco settlement in Wisconsin as attorney general and has remained a strong supporter of the tobacco-control movement,” Willis said.

Doyle expressed his disappointment in what he described as a failure for past Wisconsin governments to take advantage of money awarded in tobacco lawsuits.

“I took the lead as attorney general to take on the big tobacco companies, winning a $6 billion settlement that should have been used to fight tobacco use and invest in health care for Wisconsin citizens for generations to come,” Doyle said. “Unfortunately, the Legislature and our former governor sold off the settlement to plug a one-time hole in the budget.”

The advertisements, which will begin airing Monday, will speak to the economic impact of smoking in the state. An estimated 7,000 Wisconsinites die every year, which depletes the workforce.

“Tobacco has a devastating impact in Wisconsin,” Doyle said. “We lose 7,300 residents to tobacco-related diseases and spend $1.6 billion in health-care costs every year because of tobacco use.”

Tobacco companies spend $9.6 billion annually in advertising markets and more than $180 million in Wisconsin, said Doyle, who plans to appropriate $15 million into his budget for tobacco prevention, control and cessation.

“It’s not as much as we would have liked to allocate in good times, but we’ve protected funding for anti-tobacco efforts from the budget ax — even despite a $3.2 billion budget deficit,” Doyle said.

The current ad campaign will use $1 million of the smoking-prevention budget and will stretch out over the next four months.

Although $15 million is included in Doyle’s budget, it is unclear what will remain after the state Legislature is finished reviewing the plan and reallocating funds.

Last month more than 120 American Cancer Society volunteers from across the state gathered at the state Capitol to put pressure on their legislators.

“We talked about preserving money that has been set aside for funding in the budget,” said Cathy Lanser, American Cancer Society spokesperson.

Doyle praised the efforts of such groups Tuesday and said the media campaign would not accomplish its goals without participation from Wisconsinites.

“We must be unified in reducing the burden of tobacco in Wisconsin, and supporting a grassroots movement to remove tobacco from our social fabric,” Doyle said.