Truth commercial: Muppets & smoking

[Drtooth]

The potato man and dog squiggly cartoon doesn't seem effective even though it does describe a lot of people I know. And I live down the street from a licensed Cannabis Club. Not to get political on the subject (I could really care less about the legality) it does attract a bad element to my neighborhood...and the smell. Just never could stand that green stench. :

I gotta admit that antidrug commercial with the "look at how bad I can draw, but it's funny" might actually be effective on stoners, cuz it does look like stoner humor.

I feel that people should make their own choices to an extent. And if they ruin their life that way, that's how you learn. I hate smokes, I won't do drugs, I'm 25 and I don't drink. i eat like a race horse though, but I'm trying to work on that. Nothing but PSA's all over and people ignore them. I find it funny that they don't do their job and they assume because Patty abd Selma light up that every single kid is gonna turn into a smoking chimp.

 

[spcglider]

Personal story: my grandfsther smoked for his entire life (before the release of the information declaring tobacco smoking to be carcinogenic). He died a very uncomfortable and somewhat messy death of lung cancer. My father after smoking for his entire adult life, developed heart disease and emphysema. He eventually needed a quad heart bypass.

I don't smoke. I'm no idiot.

You can disagree with the way the message is presented, but the message is still true. Smoking cigarettes can kill you. Being exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke can also kill you. But tobacco companies don't want you to think about that. They just want you to be a quiet little addict and keep funnelling money into their bottom line.

I don't personally like the TRUTH campaign tv ads, but it's more of an annoyance factor. But I do realize that this information needs to be spread... no matter what you may think, the tobacco industry is still out there working their hardest to get people to smoke. That effort needs to be opposed. Maybe not the way TRUTH is doing it (because frankly as an ad campaign it's really just a way for art directors to get their creative rocks off and be all "edgy" and win awards).

-Gordon

 

[frogboy4]

The ads do shed (some) light on the issue...

but my more hemp-friendly acquaintances seem to laugh at the squiggly dog and alien "Under the Influence" PSAs. Actually, I do like some of the live-action ones. And hey, if somebody's dog is talking to him or he sees his girlfriend spinning around in UFOs with aliens, dude's got bigger problems.

It is hard kicking smoking or any habit. It takes support, consistency and patience...just like so much else in life. I do, however, think many PSAs make these harsh difficulties appear trite. Sound bite culture, I guess. (Said in a sound bite.)

 

[Drtooth]

I will say, the ideas they use in the "Should have had a V8" commercials could work well.

You could have 2 guys in a room, one puts a joint (or cig) in his mouth, and just before he lights it up, the second guy dope slaps him and says "Eyyyy! Don't do that!"

That would be funny.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I have to say that this commercial was insulting to say the least.

You know? There a country in Asia and I forget which one where people chain smoke regularly and live passed 100 years old. This can be attributed to life style choices that they make. It's the smoking combined with an unhealthy life style that claimes many life pf people who smoke as well.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Yeah it's true, smoking doesn't guarantee that you will have health problems. (George Burns lived for years while smoking) But it does make it much more likely, which is why it's not worth the risk.

But yeah other countries make better eating choices. Americans eat too much artificial food and too many large portions.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Well, smoking alone doesn't, but it not just the eating choices, but the lifestyle choices as well. Where you just don't live with so much clutter that makes people end up with lazy habits, you know?

 

[unclematt]

I have not read any of this forum but this comercial upsets me so much. I hate it. It ****** me off that they would even use the Muppet name. I admire the intention of the ad but do it another way.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

This ad is just insulting to me. Trying to put the Muppets in a negative light and making us puppeteers look like nutcases is just awful. These people think they can use pop culture icons to get people's attention, but it just makes them look more like fools.

 

[unclematt]

The problem is the commercial's point is to prevent youth smoking. Even as a smoker I appreciate the commercials point. I just wish they would have not used the Muppet name