Wednesday, October 23, 2002

 
"TOBACCO IS WHACKO ... IF YOU'RE A TEEN", IS, ITSELF, WHACKO.
External link:

What is up with that ad campaign, "Tobacco is whacko ... if you're a teen"? I see it a lot in comic books, and occasionally on TV. If the goal of this campaign is to encourage young people to smoke more, then I think it's an excellent commercial. But the idea that such a slogan will get anyone not to smoke is absurd. Why say "Tobacco is whacko ... if you're a teen", and not just say "Tobacco is whacko"? The corollary of "Tobacco is whacko if you're a teen" is, obviously, "Tobacco is totally awesome if you're not a teen." And if you tell a teenager they're not old enough to do something, because it's too adult for them, what do you think they're going to do? And aside from that, the "Tobacco is whacko" rhyme is totally trite. Do you think one person will hear "Tobacco is whacko" and decide not to smoke because of this?

This ad campaign is sponsored by the Lorillard Tobacco company, ostensibly out of a sincere effort to discourage youth smoking. But, if you ask me, they know exactly what they're doing, which is encouraging kids to smoke more by making smoking seem more adult. In fact, their campaign seems weirdly transparent in this regard.

This is The Official Record. 2:32 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/tobacco-is-whacko-if-youre-teen-is.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85592417