Calls to a Quit Smoking hotline soared to 1,432 in the two weeks since the scare campaign was launched, surpassing the 1,019 people who called in the same period last year, the Straits Times said.

The National Smoking Control Campaign launched by the Ministry of Health and the Committee on Smoking Control on May 14 made a radical shift in its approach by adopting the shock tactics.

Australia, New Zealand and some parts of the United States began to use the campaign style after dumping the soft approach of earlier campaigns which encouraged non-smokers to help smokers quit.

``I never took notice of previous campaigns, but this one really scared me as it showed what could happen inside me,'' sales executive Annette Chong, 26, told the paper.

The no-holds-barred approach in thisyear's campaign followed a health survey released in April showing smoking was on the rise among Singapore's three million people, particularly in women and young people.

As part of celebrations to mark World No Tobacco Day Monday, 10 taxis bearing the image of the ruptured brain tumour were flagged off at a ceremony. Ninety more cabs as well as other public transport and bus stops will carry the ad, the Straits Times said.

Cinema versions of the confronting campaign will be shown along with the hit Star Wars movie, Phantom Menace, which opens here on Thursday.