This is one example of an advertisement that can inform and influence people in a good way. You don’t always die from tobacco is a powerful commercial with a powerful message; DON’T SMOKE! It’s pretty clear nowadays that smoking is bad for your health and is, generally, just a bad idea. But I’m not gonna sit here and write an attack on smoking, I posted this to show how effective and helpful advertisements can be (in true William’s fashion). I mean, every time you turn on the television you see countless ads regarding the health risks of smoking and even more trying to keep young people from trying it out. And it is in my opinion that these anti-smoking campaigns are utilizing the media for a noble cause and with very positive results.
Whether you are for or against smoking, it’s hard to argue that these days there is a little bit more of a faux pas attitude towards smoking, and it is largely in part because of all of the anti-smoking movements that have arisen in the last couple decades. This commercial, for me, is one of the best "don’t smoke ads" I have ever seen, and really sums up the power of advertisement. If you take the time to read some of the comments that people have posted online to this commercial, many have stories about how this is the ad that really "put the nails in the coffin," so to speak, about their attitude towards smoking. Hey, maybe it can change yours.
Just my thoughts… =)
Brigham Heyn
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7 comments:
I agree with you that the ad does a great job of convincing people that smoking is a dangerous habit and can have terrible effects. However, I may bei think that your conception on the williams article is skewed or at least how it is presented. Williams in my mind at no point points to advertising being helpful, in my opinion he sees it as an evil. Other than that though i agree with you and think that the ad does a great job at playing at some of the things fowler discusses.
Jake Lichter
I agree that this is a powerful advertisement that really gets the word across. The use of a man with a hole in his throat repels viewers in by sympathsizing with him. Not wanting to be like the man should hopefully get people not to smoke. I wonder if these ads against smoking even make a difference for people not to smoke. Is the amount of money needed to produce such an ad worth it? Are people really choosing not to smoking because of this ad? I hope so.
Emily Andrae
I agree that this commercial does show its viewers the negative effects of smoking. I too am glad to see commercials out that that are meant to better its viewers, instead of solely going after monetary gain.
This ad isn't necessarily not promoting anything. For people who are addicted to smoking there are products that aid in quitting smoking and these products cost money therefore. So either way you look at it it is still advertising indirectly.
Jeff Scheidegger
Throughout history we have seen advertisements for smoking, whether they be in favor of it or against. But many of the anti-smoking ads have been consistently the same, "Don't smoke it's bad for you." I found Joe Camel more memorable than those and in turn anti-smoking ads were proving useless. When You Don't Always Die From Tobacco came out, the effects were powerful. They used average people and showed real life effects of smoking. Williams may have tried to state that we are publically setting apart people who do this, seperating people by those who have this habit and those who don't. Which in turn may make people uncomfortable and cause confrontations. But I personally agree that this commercial does not have much to disprove of and the reason behind it is a good one.
-Jessica Karls
This ad is probably one of the best "truth" ads i've seen. Some of them a find a bit odd but this one is extremely effective and real, showing a man who suffered first hand the effects of tobacco. This commercial totally disagrees with Williams' view on advertisements as ineffective and socially wrong. I could bet that the majority of people who saw this commercial would say that it convinced them that tobacco was unhealthy if they didn't believe it already.
Joslyn Plumer
Yes, this ad has a positive goal, but I think it represents about 1% of all ads, and as Jeff said, they are still selling something.
The hole in the throat was definitely effective, and it is nice to see something that is not blatantly materialistic. However this is not in "true Williams fashion", as Jake said, because Williams would have stated that society has gotten to the point where people can only be reached through tv ads, and would deplore this state of society.
~Monica Schultz
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