Cigarettes are bullies ads

[2012 Wont Happen]

I keep seeing this ad on TV that shows a little bully man yelling at someone to do things that it eventually reveals to be a cigarette. I know why anti-smoking ads are out on tv and even as a smoker I can recognize that smoking isn't societally good, and saying such ads are bad isn't what I'm getting at.

However, this ad I take distinct issue with because as a smoker I know that it is preposterous. It shows this little cigarette man dragging people outside in the middle of various acts, showing them being reluctant but unable to resist. This is not the case. I have never felt the need to leave class for a cigarette, pause a movie for a cigarette, or generally break anything short that I was enjoying just to have a cigarette, and at a pack a day I am in no way only moderately or lightly addicted. It's insulting to portray smokers as people so devoid of basic impulse control and planning skills that they can't possibly complete basic essential and social tasks and plan their cigarette breaks accordingly.

These ads should go back to endlessly harping at me that I'm going to die from smoking as if that's information I somehow don't know rather than telling me that I'm a totally addiction driven animal like some kind of fucking crackhead. For one, the health issues are true, and two even if they somehow weren't they at least aren't disparaging a group of people as essentially useless.

 

[tippy2k2]

I get where you're coming from but...I'm going to have to (partially) disagree for two reasons.

1. They are anti-smoking ads. As in, their primary goal is to keep people from smoking. If the ad convinces them that smoking will turn them into a slave to the all-mighty cigarette, I have a hard time saying that's a bad idea. I get why it would irk you (how often do we gamers cringe when we see "gaming activities" show up in movies/tv?) but it's tough for me to call it bad if it'll keep kids from smoking.

2. It might not have affected you in that way but I grew up with smokers; quite a few of them bring events to a screeching halt because they need to go smoke. Now that's partially because you're not allowed to smoke anywhere but smokers I know leave work every hour or two to smoke, friends have had to go outside during a party to smoke, friends have left the restaurant we are in to smoke, etc. I suppose you could call it poor planning on their part and it's not nearly as extreme as the commercial shows (my Dad went through Lord of Rings, the longest movie ever, without getting up to smoke ) but it still interrupts them fairly often.

Besides, I don't think these commercials (or the "Health Risk" ones) are for you. They're a "SCARED STRAIGHT!" kind of thing to keep kids or people thinking about it away from cigarettes.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

Oh, they're awful. I've also seen another one where a girl (well, a young woman, I assume) buys a pack of cigarettes, and then the woman at the counter says she needs to pay a little bit more, so she rips some skin off her cheek and puts it on the counter.

Yes, really.

Remember those Scared Straight ads, with the "This is Your Brain on Drugs" and stuff? Apparently, we're back there again.

 

[MysticSlayer]

However, this ad I take distinct issue with because as a smoker I know that it is preposterous. It shows this little cigarette man dragging people outside in the middle of various acts, showing them being reluctant but unable to resist. This is not the case. I have never felt the need to leave class for a cigarette, pause a movie for a cigarette, or generally break anything short that I was enjoying just to have a cigarette, and at a pack a day I am in no way only moderately or lightly addicted. It's insulting to portray smokers as people so devoid of basic impulse control and planning skills that they can't possibly complete basic essential and social tasks and plan their cigarette breaks accordingly.

Well, you might not have an issue with it, but I've known plenty of smokers that do lack basic impulse control, and many of them are actually quite honest about the fact that they want to stop but just can't because the urge is too great. Some recent studies have event hinted that smokers, in general, have worse self-control than non-smokers [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/opinion/sunday/why-smokers-still-smoke.html?_r=0], so it doesn't seem surprising that anti-smoking ads would play on this. After all, by this point, the idea that smokers are "ignorant" about the health issues is just ridiculous.

Obviously, the way smoking affects an individual changes depending on who that individual is, but it isn't like the idea those ads are playing on isn't unheard of or even not that common.

 

[lacktheknack]

Oh, they're awful. I've also seen another one where a girl (well, a young woman, I assume) buys a pack of cigarettes, and then the woman at the counter says she needs to pay a little bit more, so she rips some skin off her cheek and puts it on the counter.

Yes, really.

Remember those Scared Straight ads, with the "This is Your Brain on Drugs" and stuff? Apparently, we're back there again.

Oh goody! Those ads are actually fun to watch. I hope I get to see some.

 

[wulf3n]

Besides, I don't think these commercials (or the "Health Risk" ones) are for you. They're a "SCARED STRAIGHT!" kind of thing to keep kids or people thinking about it away from cigarettes.

The problem there when it comes to misinformation is that it creates a sense of disillusionment among those who they're trying to help.

As soon as they realise that what's been said isn't a hard and fast fact, they'll start to question everything they've been told about said topic, including the stuff that is actually fact.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

2. It might not have affected you in that way but I grew up with smokers; quite a few of them bring events to a screeching halt because they need to go smoke. Now that's partially because you're not allowed to smoke anywhere but smokers I know leave work every hour or two to smoke, friends have had to go outside during a party to smoke, friends have left the restaurant we are in to smoke, etc. I suppose you could call it poor planning on their part and it's not nearly as extreme as the commercial shows (my Dad went through Lord of Rings, the longest movie ever, without getting up to smoke ) but it still interrupts them fairly often.

I find this sums it up rather well. The fact is the commercial is specifically targeting people who see their smoking habits less like a easy stress reliever and more like a trap they can't get out of. My first job at a Dunkin Donuts in high school left me working the drive thru at rush hour by myself for a good 20 minutes because my fellow employee had to take a smoking break. She came back apologizing for the rest of the shift, but that showed me what addiction can do. And that's the point: anti-smoking commercials are showing that bad things that could become of you if you smoke. True, not every smoker finds it nearly as addicting, but not every smoker gets lung cancer.

It's not "Man, those smokers are assholes for making everyone pause the movie because of their addiction." It's "If I started smoking cigarettes, I might become like that. Wasting money on something that only feeds addiction." Bottom line: It's an anti-smoking ad, what do you want?

 

[Spambot 3000]

They're trying to encourage people to prolong their life and not make unhealthy choices. You're complaining that 'well not every person who smokes gets addicted to it'. You haven't exactly got the moral high-ground here.

 

[Phasmal]

I think anti-smoking ads are pretty much only good to try and get people to not START smoking- though I don't see any reason for anyone to start smoking these days.
I understand people who already smoke don't really like them, but they have a purpose.

2. It might not have affected you in that way but I grew up with smokers; quite a few of them bring events to a screeching halt because they need to go smoke. Now that's partially because you're not allowed to smoke anywhere but smokers I know leave work every hour or two to smoke, friends have had to go outside during a party to smoke, friends have left the restaurant we are in to smoke, etc. I suppose you could call it poor planning on their part and it's not nearly as extreme as the commercial shows (my Dad went through Lord of Rings, the longest movie ever, without getting up to smoke ) but it still interrupts them fairly often.

Yeah this.
Trying to raid with my guildmates was a fucking nightmare when we had to stop for cigarette breaks at every opportunity. I know smokers are capable of going without, but a lot of them just don't want to.
I've got nothing against smokers (except my parents who are chain smokers and everything they send me has a puff of smoke when I open it dammit), but it's kind of the point that if smokers didn't need to smoke, they probably... wouldn't be smokers.

 

[Korolev]

I'm a medical student, and I've seen patients who are SO addicted to cigarettes that they try to walk on broken bones to get outside to get cigs, because their family members won't bring them cigarettes. I've seen that. I've seen people who are literally DYING due to COPD, who are virtually breathless and wheezing and have so much air-trapping that their chest is visibly inflated, try to smoke. I've seen people who have looked their family members in the eye, sworn up and down that they would stop, swore to themselves that they would stop, and yet the next day, they're puffing away. I've seen patients who KNOW its killing them, who know that it's something they should stop, who WANT to stop - and yet they can't.

Of course, everyone is different. I've seen smokers stop virtually overnight, through sheer willpower. Maybe you're one of the ones who aren't addicted, but many smokers are. Quitting smoking is usually incredibly difficult, if you are a heavy, regular smoker. Maybe you just don't smoke that much?

But the idea of Smoking Addiction actually controlling people's lives? I've seen it. First-hand. When you have someone with broken bones in their feet trying to hobble out of hospital just to have a smoke? You know that person has a problem. When you see a 60 year old man, who knows smoking is killing him, who has said he wants nothing more than to stop, who can BARELY BREATHE, trying to smoke outside the hospital? Then you know that that person has a problem.

Smoking is VERY addictive for most people. If it wasn't, I can guarantee you that virtually no one would be smoking these days after knowing the health risks.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

I'm actually rather curious as to how the anti-smoking ad council or whatever it is will respond to e-cigarettes, especially if more evidence comes to light showing it to be significantly less harmful than standard cigarettes. Right now I know local governments are scrambling frantically to counteract e-cigarettes, making up all kinds of audacious claims. You'd think that encouraging tobacco addicts to switch over to something less harmful would be a good idea...

 

[shootthebandit]

I think these adverts are pointless. As a smoker I know the risks but I still enjoy a cigarette in the same way I know the risks of binge drinking but it still doesnt stop ne getting hammered on a weekend. These adverts dont put anyone off they are just there to make it look like the government is doing something about it when all they continue to do is tax the hell out of cigarettes. I pay £7 for 20 fags. Most of this £7 is tax, this doesnt solve anything.

Dont get me wrong. Im all for getting people to stop (I personally dont want to but thats my choice). I just think instead of demonising, patronising and taxing the smoking community there should be genuine free help available (out of hours) so that everyone can get help even if you work and cant make the classes which are run on weekdays during the day.

Im getting my tin foil hat on here but I think with all these "cigarettes are bad" campaigns its actually encouraging kids to be rebelious and smoke. The government wants this because of how much tax they make from smokers

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

I keep seeing this ad on TV that shows a little bully man yelling at someone to do things that it eventually reveals to be a cigarette. I know why anti-smoking ads are out on tv and even as a smoker I can recognize that smoking isn't societally good, and saying such ads are bad isn't what I'm getting at.

However, this ad I take distinct issue with because as a smoker I know that it is preposterous. It shows this little cigarette man dragging people outside in the middle of various acts, showing them being reluctant but unable to resist. This is not the case. I have never felt the need to leave class for a cigarette, pause a movie for a cigarette, or generally break anything short that I was enjoying just to have a cigarette, and at a pack a day I am in no way only moderately or lightly addicted. It's insulting to portray smokers as people so devoid of basic impulse control and planning skills that they can't possibly complete basic essential and social tasks and plan their cigarette breaks accordingly.

These ads should go back to endlessly harping at me that I'm going to die from smoking as if that's information I somehow don't know rather than telling me that I'm a totally addiction driven animal like some kind of fucking crackhead. For one, the health issues are true, and two even if they somehow weren't they at least aren't disparaging a group of people as essentially useless.

I haven't seen the ad you're speaking of. However, most anti-smoking ads seem to be made by people who never smoked. Which is good for them, I guess. But I haven't seen an anti-smoking ad that wasn't a gross over exaggeration in decades.

And that's fine really. I mean I smoked for 26 years, but if someone could have gotten me to stop sooner or better yet never have started, I wouldn't begrudge them bending the facts to suit the message a bit.

I did a cartoon once making fun of the Truth.com ads and how over-the-top they'd become at the time. I'll see if I can find it on my Deviant Art page.

 

[Vykrel]

i dont object to the message that these commercials are sending, thats for sure. i mean, there are literally no real worthwhile benefits to smoking, but tons of downsides.

but i dont understand why they feel the need to make the commercials so gross. my least favorite is the one with the teenage girl in the bathroom with her friends, and she is literally turning into a friggin zombie. completely nasty.

 

[HardkorSB]

Here's an advice, never use the "it's not the case with me therefore it's not true" argument (I'm sure there's a shorter name for it but I don't care).
There are plenty of smokers so addicted that without regular cigarette breaks, they get stressed out, irritated, aggressive even to the point of being violent, unable to concentrate on anything other than the urge to smoke.
My mom only stopped smoking after she had a bad asthma attack and went into a coma for 2 weeks. My aunt still smoked after she already got lung cancer from it. She died right before my eyes.
Say what you want about other drugs but cigarettes being portrayed as the devil is really not a bad thing.

I like to do social experiments for my own amusement as well as to gain knowledge and I used to create these situations for my friends and family members (the smoking ones) where they would be unable to smoke for extended periods of time (a few hours usually). Most of them would start to flip out after a while. It was a bit scary (they were screaming, some of them wanted to beat me up, one even threw a plant at the wall) but worthwhile in the end.

Cigarettes are a cause of so many deaths a year for a reason - once you start, it's really hard to stop (that and the fact that they're legal).

 

[tippy2k2]

Besides, I don't think these commercials (or the "Health Risk" ones) are for you. They're a "SCARED STRAIGHT!" kind of thing to keep kids or people thinking about it away from cigarettes.

The problem there when it comes to misinformation is that it creates a sense of disillusionment among those who they're trying to help.

As soon as they realize that what's been said isn't a hard and fast fact, they'll start to question everything they've been told about said topic, including the stuff that is actually fact.

I'd have agreed with you there in the 90's.

The DARE program and whatnot fed a lot of misinformation with the intent to get kids to not do drugs. The problem with DARE is that when kids realized that they knew a guy who smoked pot and didn't one year later murder old ladies so that they can score one more hit on their crack pipe, they questioned everything DARE told them.

The new "scared straight" commercials (or at least the ones I've seen, which include the OP's example) are much better about it. The one he's talking about talks about the fact that cigarettes are addicting and interrupt your life with smoke breaks. The other one that has been referred to talks about how cigarette damage hurts your skin, which it also does do.

Now the commercials usually show the worst case scenario (as the OP states, he doesn't feel like he has to go smoke every few hours) but all the scenarios presented in the new-school style are very real risks for people. I've known smokers who have shown all those issues (my sister used to leave parties every hour or so to smoke, my Dad coughs constantly from years of smoking, my sister could barely run a few minutes before looking like she was about to die, etc.)

 

[Loonyyy]

I keep seeing this ad on TV that shows a little bully man yelling at someone to do things that it eventually reveals to be a cigarette. I know why anti-smoking ads are out on tv and even as a smoker I can recognize that smoking isn't societally good, and saying such ads are bad isn't what I'm getting at.

However, this ad I take distinct issue with because as a smoker I know that it is preposterous. It shows this little cigarette man dragging people outside in the middle of various acts, showing them being reluctant but unable to resist. This is not the case. I have never felt the need to leave class for a cigarette, pause a movie for a cigarette, or generally break anything short that I was enjoying just to have a cigarette, and at a pack a day I am in no way only moderately or lightly addicted. It's insulting to portray smokers as people so devoid of basic impulse control and planning skills that they can't possibly complete basic essential and social tasks and plan their cigarette breaks accordingly.

These ads should go back to endlessly harping at me that I'm going to die from smoking as if that's information I somehow don't know rather than telling me that I'm a totally addiction driven animal like some kind of fucking crackhead. For one, the health issues are true, and two even if they somehow weren't they at least aren't disparaging a group of people as essentially useless.

It's like the Anti-drug PSAs. They're uninformed rubbish that's meant to convince those with no idea what the ads are about to avoid them. And they probably work, until they discover it for themselves, or from someone else, and realise that pretty much everything they were told was bullshit. Which is probably counter productive, since then people will ignore the few good points.

Hell, I love the images they put on the cigarette packets here in Australia. They tell me that I'm going to lose my foot to diabetes, which I'm at greater risk for by smoking. Or that I've got to keep my smoking away from children because "No amount of smoke is safe", which is obviously a lie. I mean, I'm not going to smoke around kids anyway, but that doesn't convince me not too.

Actually, some of the pictures are kind of morbidly artsy. It's no suprise that I've seen a few people collecting them.

 

[Muspelheim]

Welp. Those ads create work opportunities, after all. It gets some money into circulation. Revolving wealthy by producing services with no clear advantage that no one asked for is the future.

I do think that learning to cope with long stretches without a fagbreak is important, though. You can't demand everything around you to stop so you can nip out for a moment. It's just more considerate.

 

[Queen Michael]

They ought to make a reversed one to get bullying to stop. "Bullies are cigarettes."