The
recent ads that promote the anti-
smoking campaign
focus upon people
who have terminal health issues
as a
result of their addiction to nicotine and
cigarettes. While these ads may be
having
some impact; this strategy fully
embraces fear as
the tactic to affect
change. This is an old approach,
dating
back at least to when the actor Yul
Brunner made the PSA about his lung
cancer in the
80s. Does advertising only
know how to use
positive spin when
promoting cigarettes? I can't understand
why the only considered approach
to get
people to stop smoking is the use
of
negative advertising. More fear mongering.
Who has decided that fear works?
My
question is this- why is there no interest
in showing the
good side of quitting smoking,
the positive aspects
that are all the right
reasons to quit? Clean
smell, fresh air,
health, money saved-those
sort of things.
Why isn't smoke free success any part
of
the ad campaign? Are the Mad
Men afraid
this approach wouldn't work?
It's
certainly never been tried.
I'm
guessing that a few hundred million
people have died
from cigarettes since
I was born. I have
buried seven family
members from smoking related
illnesses.
I was addicted for almost forty
years-but
I quit, and am healthier than I have
been
in thirty years. In the almost three years
since I stopped, I have regained almost
all of my lung capacity, my sense of smell,
my singing voice and
saved more than
$8,000. My friends say
I look much healthier,
smell and sound infinitely better and have
completely stopped the
daily coughing
routine that creeped
them out.
Intimidating
people by foisting visions of
carcinogenic
horror upon them seems a
short term fix
at most. People block images
they don't
want to remember. Do I need to
have a
tracheotomy or a portion of my lung
removed
to make my point? It's too late
then. I believe that
for the world to become
smoke free, policies and strategies that
encourage all the great aspects
of a no
smoking lifestyle, complete with various
incentive
programs, is the long term
solution to decrease global tobacco
use.
Leaders like Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
President Vladimir Putin are on the right track.
The whole
point is to quit before it's too late,
right?
There's nothing wrong with listening
to
someone who figured this out in time.
Maybe
it's time for smoke free ads about
winning
the battle? Like "DON'T take a puff,
it's Springtime!" A survivor seems like
a far
better spokesperson. Going smoke
free is
supposed to be a new lease on life,
not the End of
Days. Take the long view.
I remain an optimist.
