How do you feel about TheTruth.com commercials?

[SweetZombieJesus]

Poll question: How do you feel about TheTruth.com commercials?

They make me want to throw up, then scream, then throw up again while screaming.

[Deja Q]

1. Expand the content beyond ciggie smoking...

There's so much political and corporate corruption, I dream of the day that these commercials go beyond mere smoking - these commercials are very hard hitting and liberal/progressive.

Today smoking. Tomorrow the world. Let's get to tomorrow, baby!

[Cat Atomic]

2. Whoah! Smoking is bad for me?! Whoah!

I hate those commercials.

[LoZoccolo]

3. Some of the best PSAs /ever/.

They kind of hit an anti-establishment nerve that older anti-smoking PSAs don't. Yeah, teenage kids know that smoking's bad for you. But what they generally don't think about is how much the cigarette companies /exploit/ them.

Let me play a card if I may: I was diagnosed with heart disease at 27.

[SweetZombieJesus]

4. I think they're deliberately annoying/preachy because they're owned by

Phillip Morris. I think it's done to make the anti-smoking crowd look needlessly preachy and overbearing.

But I could be wrong.

[LoZoccolo]

10. I think they're funded by tobacco companies...

...as part of a settlement a few years ago, but I doubt that they're produced by them.

P.S. I forgot to tell mention that after quitting and working with a cardiologist I'm all better now. :bounce: Still people need to know that the problems don't all happen when you're way old (I'd actually only been smoking for two years continuously when that happened - I had quit for three before that).

[Interrobang]

5. The anti-pot ones are worse!

Especially that one where the stoners in the car drive into the little kid on the bike...shudder...dude! You know that doesn't *really* happen, 'cause when you're stoned, first of all, you don't *want* to go out driving, and secondly, if you do, you sit there at the first stop sign in your path and wait for it to turn green...

Ba-DUM-bump...

[Spintronic]

6. I disagree with your tone.

Here's what I've been able to find out about theTruth.com. All the ads are paid for by a non-profit called the American Legacy Foundation which is in turn funded by the the tobacco settlements. I cannot find any information linking them to any tobacco companies. Does anyone have any information to the contrary?

As for the ads, you may dislike them, but the tobacco companies hate them more. At one time Lorilard sued the non-profit because they painted the company in a bad light, which was against the settlement.

I find the ads to be much better then the other public service announcements. They don't insult as much and I don't find them nearly as preachy. Instead they show (or at least the older ones did) how the tobacco companies are manipulating people.

The ads that are sponsored by tobacco companies I find despicable. They are very preachy and feel goody. Saying messages like smoking isn't cool is useless and has been proven so. Kids never let adults tell them what is and isn't cool. Especially with the cigarette companies working their placements in elsewhere to make sure they do remain cool. And lets face it, smoking has always been and will always be cool.

Other ads say that if you're a good parent, your kids won't smoke. The ones sponsored by big tobacco never seem to say, if you don't smoke and have cigarettes lying around the house, your kids are less likely to smoke.

I really hate the ad that says "Tobacco is whacko, if you're a teen." I mean, it's outrageous on so many levels. First, it's stupid. I mean come on, whacko? What kids gonna take this seriously. More importantly it even implies the next unspoken sentence, "tobacco is cool if you're an adult." In fact, if you smoke, no one will think of you as a teen. It's basically an ad. (For Lorillard, who pays for this campaign.)

As for those anti-pot ads from the CDC, what do you expect out of this administration.

[PittPoliSci]

7. as a nonsmoker...

I FUCKING HATE THEM!!! I don't care if people smoke provided they don't blow smoke in my face! fuck those commercials! who out there thinks "well, i'm only inhaling something that has poison skulls all over it, it must be good for me" yes, smoking kills! no SHIT i don't need a group of overzealous would be fuck offs telling me that!

[WoodrowFan]

8. There are STILL people who deny it.

I find them preachy, but I like them. A lot of folks STILL say "well gee, they still don't KNOW if they can hurt you."

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

9. I like them

sorry, I don't care if you're a smoker and they are "offensive". they are offensive for a reason. I don't understand how people can be preachy about not shopping at walmart and feeding the "big giant corporate monster", yet still find it in themselves to buy a pack or two a day. the people at the truth do stuff like they do in their commercials because they are disgusted at the fact that for years the cigarette companies have been lying to us, and nobody wants to do anything about it. people will continue to smoke, and that's just crappy but there's not much that can really be done to prevent it. thetruth is just shedding some light on the issues, like public service announcements. I think public service announcements are a fine thing to have, and to me they are not annoying. To see somewhat so passionate about an issue like the people at thetruth are is kinda cool, just like if a politician gets really passionate about an issue you support.

:shrug:

I think cigarettes are nasty. I never will date a man who smokes cigarettes. Never ever. Too much bad karma from the family smokers in my family. Death from cancer is scary when you see it with your own two eyes or the eyes of a loved one. I don't know if smokers fully can ever understand this from a TV screen, they know you can get cancer and "that's bad" but until they experience it or see someone deteriorate from it for a long time, suffer with it, spend time with that person... they'll never understand.

[LuLu550]

11. I'm involved with an anti-tobacco company group

called "Reality Check." It's a NY State program aimed at kids, funded by tobacco settlement money. The message is specifically targetted at the tobacco COMPANIES and their ads that influence kids to smoke; it is not anti-smoker. Reality Check was patterned after The Truth. The Truth is also funded by this money, NOT Phyllip Morris. It has be extremely effective in keeping kids from buying the myth that the tobacco companies sell that "smoking is cool."
Our latest initiative points out that since advertising has been cut back, smoking by characters in movies has gone up dramatically.
You may think whatever you want about smoking...tobacco companies are evil!

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

14. Reality Check rocks

I am thinking of joining up.

[electricmonk]

12. The Truth ads

aren't near as annoying as the YdouThink ones. I like the Truth ones where they pull Michael Moore style stunts on the tobacco industry. And they have a good point about the one with ingredient listings on products.

For the record I'm a non-smoker myself. I smoked for about 2 weeks when I was 15 then a cousin turned me on to pot and I was like "Hey this is much better than cigarettes, it's like smoking for a reason" but I gave that up about 10-12 years ago too.

[LynneSin]

13. I'm sorry, smoking is a hell of alot worse than alcohol

Not that I'm saying that Alcohol doesn't have it's issue, but I know more people who have had smoking related diseases and/or death from tobacco.

[LTR]

15. It's pandering to the kids

Does anyone really think teens will go for this trite crap?

If I were still a teenager, I'd think they were an even bigger joke.

I think the money could be spent on better advertising.

FYI: I was against the settlement. Anyone that smokes (I do, BTW, but have cut down) knows full well the possible results.

I'm tired of frivilous lawsuits.

Time for people to take responsibility for their own lives, and stop trying to shift the blame.