Translation: "To smoke is to be a slave to tobacco."Here's the latest from the French anti-smoking lobby Droits des Non-fumeurs (Nonsmokers’ Rights). Many people are shocked at the metaphor, but I get it. Break through by showing teens that what they view as an independent, rebellious act is really just being used as a tool by The Man... errr... L'Homme. But geez, that's harsh.
President of the nonsmokers group: "Using sex is a way to get their attention. And if it’s necessary to shock, let’s shock."
One criticism: "The campaign trivializes sexual abuse — worse, it implies guilt on the part of the abused." I get that, too.
Links: NYTimes & HuffPost
Readers?
--Straight Guy
5 comments:
I don't agree with their campaign entirely, but I think that the original goal (to stop teens from smoking) is an honorable one.
"The campaign trivializes sexual abuse — worse, it implies guilt on the part of the abused."
I fail to make the connection on how the ad trivializes sexual abuse. I maybe missing something.
The difference in the pictures is what I find odd. The boy has a man in a suit. The girl, the suit has been removed and the man has a gut.
It's kinda disturbing. I don't think it's the best ad to get the point across. Just my opinion. :)
Wannabe: I think that folks against this campaign see the rape of kids as a tragedy all on it's own, and to use it as a visual pun for something else diminishes it's impact. Though smoking can be tragic in its own way, the impact is not equatable. Kids can try and then stop smoking, but they can't get un-molested.
The feedback is similar to the recent safe sex campaign "AIDS is a Mass Murderer" which featured women having sex with Hitler and Hussein. http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/world_aids_day_2009_hitler
You can't overlay this stuff and expect victims of either tragedy not to be offended. But if you want shock and outrage (hard to have one without the other), mission accomplished.
Ashley,
I am with you on the odd difference in the pictures: they boy matched with a man in a suit, the girl with a man without a jacket and with a gut. Odd.
When I look at these pics, I first see kids getting a blessing, not giving a blow job.
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