In an effort to target teens and smoking, the FDA has launched a campaign called "The Real Cost." As mentioned in a previous posting, the FDA is taking new measures to go above and beyond to scare teens as a way to dissuade them from smoking. Although the target audience is slightly younger than my age, when I first saw one of the ads, where a young girl must "give more" to a cashier to pay for her cigarettes, I was completely disgusted. The young woman proceeded to peel off a portion of her skin, indicating to the audience that one of the 'real costs' of smoking is wrinkled, damaged and discolored skin. The ad was absolutely repulsive for an unsuspecting audience, however I do believe the ad did what it was meant to do. After seeing the ad, both my roommate and I had no intention of going anywhere near a cigarette or others that smoke.
With the growing trend towards e-cigarettes, commercials like these will continue to bolster the FDA's efforts to curb younger generations from becoming addicted to harmful substances at younger ages. FDA Commissioner comments, “The feedback we got from the target audience, these kids, was that these messages were understandable, they were powerful, they were meaningful and they made them think about smoking,” Hamburg said. “That’s our goal.”
I predict the campaign will be wildly successful, especially if the commercial has the same shock effect that it had on my roommate and I. It will be interesting to see how cigarette sales change, if the do at all after viewing the commercials in this campaign.
I have seen these ads so many times when watching shows on Hulu. I had the same idea to write on this topic. The strong imagery and message makes a compelling topic. I wonder if this will stop teens and young adults from trying smoking. In a way, I feel like I would be more effected as an adult that has started to notice wrinkles and age spots. This image would stick in my head because I was already seeing the effects.
I also saw the ad when the girl peels off her face skin. I was thinking about blogging about it. This absolutely terrified my roommates and I. We were completely caught off guard. At first I thought it was a commercial about meth users, but nope, just cigarettes. This really opened by eyes to the unhealthy effects of cigarettes. I hope its making an impact on younger generations to keep them away from using tobacco problems. Like Elisa said, the strong imagery and message really make this a strong topic of debate.
I have seen these ads so many times when watching shows on Hulu. I had the same idea to write on this topic. The strong imagery and message makes a compelling topic. I wonder if this will stop teens and young adults from trying smoking. In a way, I feel like I would be more effected as an adult that has started to notice wrinkles and age spots. This image would stick in my head because I was already seeing the effects.
ReplyDeleteI also saw the ad when the girl peels off her face skin. I was thinking about blogging about it. This absolutely terrified my roommates and I. We were completely caught off guard. At first I thought it was a commercial about meth users, but nope, just cigarettes. This really opened by eyes to the unhealthy effects of cigarettes. I hope its making an impact on younger generations to keep them away from using tobacco problems. Like Elisa said, the strong imagery and message really make this a strong topic of debate.
ReplyDeletei saw these adds and felt that people who don't have this problem do not need to be disturbed by these crude ads. they can be very disturbing
ReplyDelete