Ronaldo Martínez

Ronaldo Martinez (born in 1953 or '54) is a cancer survivor who appeared in a series of much-publicized anti-smoking television commercials in the Northeastern United States. The commercials, originally produced and broadcast in Massachusetts in 2000 and reprised by The New York City Health Department in 2006, gained notoriety for their graphic depiction of Martinez's life after throat cancer.

Martinez was 39 when he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, according to one of the commercials. He had his voice box removed and requires an artificial voice box. The procedure left him with a permanent hole in the middle of his throat. Martinez currently lives in the Bronx in New York City, having moved from Puerto Rico nine months ago. [http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=2078894] .

Anti-smoking commercials

The public service campaign was produced by Geovision [http://www.geovisiononline.com] and consisted of eight 30-second commercials filmed in Boston. A number of them featured Martinez's post-cancer day-to-day struggles. They premiered on Massachusetts stations on September 20, 2000 in both English and Spanish and targeted blacks and minorities. [ "Ads Target Minority Smokers; Real-Life Stories Accent Negatives." Jamal E. Watson. Boston Globe. 20 September 2000.] . The most talked about of these shows Martinez cleaning the hole in his throat with a cotton swab. [http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/426687p-359911c.html] [http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=2078894] .

The commercials began airing in New York in early 2006 as part of the city Health Department's new anti-smoking campaign. The department saw a three-fold increase in the number of calls from people who sought to quit smoking while commercial has been on the air [http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/426483p-359724c.html] .

Notes