Anti-tobacco ads

[sg0331]

I agree with many of you here. I quit smoking 6 years ago because I wanted to. No commercial convinced me to quit. My question is why did they pull the obesity commercials when people complained about them being graphic? Being fat kills you quicker than smoking, but that is a sensitive subject...shh, don't say fat, you might hurt someone's feelings.

[nyslowhand]

Like I mentioned I'm a former smoker for ~50 years.

Do realize I've sealed my fate and no amount of smoke-free follow-up years will change that.

I try to walk the middle ground on the smoking issue, having been on both sides.

You're probably right Doc, as with most statistics they have been shown in the best light or interest of the presenter.

Huge, huge anti-smoking faction with lots of medical organizations backing it and of course tons of money claimed from litigations.

What will be their next crusade, ban drinking & alcohol??? Didn't work too well in the 1920s.

Several Presidents &/or 1st Ladies have crusaded for fitness and better eating habits, but all eventually lost the public's interest. Why?

Back when I started experimenting with tobacco, it was socially accepted.

Today with all the smoke-free areas and the stigma painted of smoking it's become almost a hardcore, cult-ish movement.

Sneaking to the parking lot, back alley, behind the workplace or out to the garage - maybe that's the allure..?

No amount of graphic evidence or TV propoganda will stop their habit.

What forced me to stop smoking was the pure financial aspect of the habit, $10/day.

[Doc]

I think what really bothers me (and here is a comment for those of you who worry about loss of personal liberties), Is the fact that the government has taken on the position of mass modifying the behaviors of the people. What they learned from this anti-smoking activity is that any behavior of the public can be curtailed or modified through the use of taxation, and public advertising campaigns using our very own tax dollars. They have also learned that these practices are super-effective even against behaviors that are deeply entrenched in our society. The other lesson learned is that this powerful tool of the government can be used against any behavior or activity. Yes obesity has been mentioned. Alcohol is another great target. Perhaps we can look at the government taxation of gasoline as a behavior modification activity to curtail fuel consumption. But then when all this government manipulation has become completely institutionalized, imagine the other things that can be attacked and eliminated in the same way. Things such as hunting or gun ownership, in fact there is no real end to which the system can be used. The first thing to be done is to begin a massive public campaign against whatever targeted activity. That paves the way for more and more increasingly invasive restrictions and financial pressures that are all tools available to the government.

So when you see these kinds of activities being conducted by your government, try to resist becoming a cheering section, and understand the true invasiveness of these tactics.

[nyslowhand]

WOW, have we hijacked this thread or what?

We've opened the door to the dreaded "Political" venting.

[Doc]

WOW, have we hijacked this thread or what?

We've opened the door to the dreaded "Political" venting.

Actually the original post was about the government activity in behavior modification. And yes, it was a subject of venting ..... and still is.

[sits in trees]

i enjoy a good cigar..

[SteveMcD]

I think the Ad's are a bit much. And as many psychologists would tell. The Ad's don't do a darn bit of good.In fact, the more grotesque they are, the more likely the smoker is to block it out in denial.

Now I find the ad's distrubing. Rubbing salt into a wound. I was a 28 year smoker up to two packs a day. Then when the doctor came into the room and said to me, we have to put you to sleep so we can get a hose down your throat, no can no longer breathe on your own for a while. I knew then I would never smoke again. That was 14 years ago, and I have not had a cigarette since. But the ad's still bother me.

[nyantler]

i enjoy a good cigar..

As do I...!!

[sits in trees]

i think these ads are aimed at todays tough kids who need real gross images to help steer them away from tobacco.

[Fitzy]

With all the anti smoking adds over the years, they arn't working. Last week there was a report that teenage smoking was still at an estimated 35% of the teens polled!

When I was a teen, everyone knew smoking wasn't good for you but most of us did it anywhay. That was before the lables that said that 'smoking will kill you'.

I don't know why people continue to smoke when it's clear that they're lives will be shortened and with a lot of medical complications.

I smoked and enjoyed it for 15 years.

I had a heart attack at 36 years old! The doctors concluded that the only thing to cause it was my tobacco use!

I may be stubborn but I'm not stupid. I had a lot of living to do and smoking was OUT!

It's been over 23 years and I've got no regrets with giving up tobacco.

I don't get up on a soap box with anti smoking rants but the science proves that smoking is a shortcut to a early grave.

WHY do people STILL do it?

[Doc]

WHY do people STILL do it?

It hasn't been that many years ago that I can't remember what a super-strong addiction nicotine was, so I am not one to question why some are still hooked. I too had some assistance from a couple of medical episodes, and some rather nasty warning symptoms that finally enabled me to quit. So I can't pat myself on the back too much for suddenly achieving an end to something that never should have started in the first place.

As far as starting smoking in the first place, that is a pretty hard thing to explain. It's like why do drug addicts ever even try the drugs. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but apparently there must be some psychological reason. I will say that back in my day it was very easy to start smoking. Just about everyone that I knew experimented with or was using tobbaco. Almost all the adults/role models smoked. Cigarettes were very affordable. And all that nasty rumor about medical complications from tobacco affect a time that was so darn far away. I remember that they were often jokingly referred to as "coffin nails" or "cancer sticks", but all that terminology really didn't relate to a 16 year old except as a joke. I suspect that the same attitudes are involved in today's youth still starting to smoke. Every kid feels invincible, and has ways of shoving unpleasant thoughts and consequences into the back-ground.

[erussell]

i think these ads are aimed at todays tough kids who need real gross images to help steer them away from tobacco.

Shoot I started smoking because everyone said it was bad for me. I quit smoking 10 yrs ago but now I chew. I get everything in PA ( $1.50 a can as apposed to $8.00 a can) and wouldnt think of getting anything in NY. The Taxes are a joke and I see just as many kids standing across the road from the school smoking as there were back when I was going to school. It didnt change a thing.

[Doc]

LOL ..... here folks, just before you head out to the kitchen for your supper, let me slap this brown and black runny, gooey, oozing human lung down here in front of the camera so you can feast your eyes on this beauty. Hey, it's all for public service and getting rid of some of this excess money we have. We've got some pictures of people with gaping holes in their throat and another guy with his jaw removed, and how about a nice picture of this guy with neat scar running up his chest. It's very good pre-meal TV programming. Hey ...... we're only doing it for your own good ..... we know what's best for you. What's that, you don't smoke? Well tough ..... look at it anyway. Bon apatite!

[NYbuck50]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/19/report-us-government-spent-at-least-45m-on-advertising-in-2010/

and people wonder why theres a deficit

[sits in trees]

LOL ..... here folks, just before you head out to the kitchen for your supper, let me slap this brown and black runny, gooey, oozing human lung down here in front of the camera so you can feast your eyes on this beauty. Hey, it's all for public service and getting rid of some of this excess money we have. We've got some pictures of people with gaping holes in their throat and another guy with his jaw removed, and how about a nice picture of this guy with neat scar running up his chest. It's very good pre-meal TV programming. Hey ...... we're only doing it for your own good ..... we know what's best for you. What's that, you don't smoke? Well tough ..... look at it anyway. Bon apatite!

might be a double edged sword, help reduce smoking and obesity....

[Ford]

Just lost my mom last Sunday. She had quit smoking about 5 years ago. (started after we lost my cousin) And before that she had mostly quit for some twenty years.

I would stay with her and watch TV in the hospital. When those commercials came on it was rough.

[erussell]

Just lost my mom last Sunday. She had quit smoking about 5 years ago. (started after we lost my cousin) And before that she had mostly quit for some twenty years.

I would stay with her and watch TV in the hospital. When those commercials came on it was rough.

Sorry for your loss.

[Elmo]

Man! So sorry to hear about your loss.

[SteveMcD]

Ford.. very sorry for your loss.

Doc.. I am like you in a way. I had to come to terms with my addiction to quit. I think what helped me quit was the overwhelming guilt I felt, for trashing my lungs. So I turned myself around and stay as healthy as I can. But the Anti Ad's are like rubbing salt into an old wound.

On the other hand.. in the 50's and 60's as a teenager,, who didn't smoke! It was a rite of passage. Heck we even had "Student Smoking Lounge" in High School! LOL!

[Ford]

Thanks for the words gentleman.

I promised my mom I would quit while she was in the hospital. I will quit this comming saturday. It will be hard, but then again easier than most. When I quit, it will be fulfilling a promise to my mom.

For those of you with mom's still in this world, please hug her, tell you that you love her, do not get annoyed with her. You will not regret it! Trust me.