Dramatic Anti-Smoking Ads Take Aim At Reluctant Quitters
Posted March 3, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A slick new ad campaign based on cigarettes isn’t anything new. From the Marlboro Man to the retired Joe Camel to pink packaging for women, the tobacco industry is known for spending millions to make you pick up a pack.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is fighting back with a commercial of its own. The spot, called “Echo,” takes typical excuses for not quitting, and then shows the dangers of continuing to smoke.
However, that’s just one ad. Michael Perley, from the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, knows that it’s tough to compete with billion-dollar companies.
“What we need to counteract is a long history, many decades long, of the industry positioning its products as a lifestyle choice.”
Linda, a smoker, saw the ad and thinks it might work. “It makes a pretty effective case for not smoking, ” she says.
Victor, a former smoker, disagrees. “No, it’s not effective at all,” he claims. “People smoke regardless of those.”
Perley is more inclined to agree with Linda. He thinks that emotional ads connect with those trying to butt out.
“Real stories by real people with real consequences have been very powerful” in the past, he says.
To see the new ad, click here.
For a list of clinics that can help you quit, click here.
For a look at alternative therapies, click here.
