Big Tobacco and Unspun

Matt,

I watched the commercial you found on tobacco and agree with the message you are trying to get across. This commercial seems to portray fear in various ways in order to get their point across. "The visual and auditory messages being conveyed were strikingly negative." I would assume the primary goal of this commercial was to install a sense of fear and doubt into those who smoke and teenagers tobacco companies see as a target. Though there are no facts presented as you said, I belive the commercial gets a point across. Thanks for the post! I look forward to hear from you.

-Makyla

Matt,

I've seen this commercial several times and I completely agree with your interpretation. It seems almost excessively scary, especially when one considers the use of music and crosshairs to enhance the emotion of fear. What upsets me about the commercial is how it seems to assume most individuals are ignorant. We live in a society where most, if not all, individuals are now aware of the negative effects of smoking. While the message of the commercial is overall positive, encouraging people to limit their use of cigarettes and other toxic devices, it goes too far in assuming a lack of knowledge in the issue. Most people who smoke are aware of the risks they are taking, but continue smoking for a variety of other reasons. I agree with your statement that the big tobacco companies just "seek to profit". Big tobacco companies are like all other companies attempting to sell their products in any way possible to gain a profit. There is propaganda and manipulation throughout the media. Ultimately, commercials like this one do not deter smoking. They simply provide scare tactics and minimal information that doesn't help the public in the least. I really liked your choice of commercial and your interpretation. I look forward to what you write next. Great post.

Mary Zost

 Matt,

Wonderful article, I have seen this commercial before, and it never hit me that the  where not giving you any facts, what they are actually doing is giving their opinion about "Big Tobacco"'s mission, and stating it as a fact. This way that are able to discredit the Tobacco companies more effectively by getting us on their side. Im not saying that the tobacco industry isn't trying to target babies, im just saying what you where, the commercial lacks fact. 

This makes me wonder why such organizations like the tobacco industry can exist legally, and other kinds of industry like marijuana can not? If the tobacco industry is trying to target children with products that may cause cancer (which it tells you right on the box that it may) why can't we go to such extremes like legal meth and other such products? These things kill society. Why should we have to have commercials telling us to not buy a product? Why not just make it illegal?

 Matt, I agree with most of your post, but i have to disagree with you when you say that tobacco companies are no more malicious than other companies.  Tobacco companies often advertise towards and target teens.  That on its own is malicious to me.  Tobacco companies are trying to sell a cancer causing product to underage people.  Outside of that one point though, I agree with everything you said about how this makes tobacco companies seem worse than they really are.  It would be really interesting to see something from Big Tobacco's side about this issue about targeting certain groups.

Hey Matt. This is a great article to use as your example. It is truly amazing how much someone can spin an argument their way and yet still be so convincing. All in all, I agree that this does provide a great point and that its examples could scare if not terrify many teens into staying away from smoking completely. I have always wondered how if anti smoking commercials can put such great spin, how much can people do using puppies and kids and all that happy stuff that sells so well. I also think it is interesting that these comercials are allowed to do so much without facts and with loads of implications, but other companies such as listerene are not allowed to use only partly true studies, it seems a little skewed to one side of the sales if you ask me. But all in all, great article and I look forward to talking more about this. Thanks- Zach

Matt,

Great find.  I am totally against smoking, for it can be fatal to those who smoke and those who are around it. And this commercial is also against smoking--but not really for the right reasons. There is nothing about negative effects of using tobacco. They're just saying that tobacco companies "target you". But don't all companies "target you" in order to sell products? And like you said, "One cannot possibly walk away from this commercial with a positive outlook towards any tobacco company, much less support its distribution." That is very true. With actual targets painted over people's faces (and babies' faces...tobacco companies target newborn infants now?), the commercial instigates fear. Good job with this post, and I hope to see more quality work from you my friend.

Beau

 Hey Matt, 

I like your summation of the commercial and your SCARY conclusion, though I don't know how much this commercial will alter the public's opinion. It was disturbing...but also funny in it's eccentricities. Sorry the crosshairs at the baby and the atomic bomb in the background was a little much.... but the face of "Big Tabacco" reminded me of "Big Brother" in 1984  and that sort of nazi-esque power exerted by faceless individuals... and that was SCARY. So cool beans Brzowski, I'm looking forward to another post.

Frank

 This ad is very influential. Especially to teens, this ad can change someone's point of view on tobacco. This ad gets into a person's brain, literally, and makes them realize that tobacco is directly effecting every aspect of their bodies. I am not a tobacco user, but this ad still scared me terribly. The fact that this poison is infecting millions of people each day, is a scary thought. Millions of people around, people I know, everyone. Tobacco is a terrible thing and needs to be put to an end. More ads like this should exist. 

^Matt,

^{I very much agree with you saying that this commercial used the, "If It's Scary, Be Wary." It definitely leaves you with a feeling of being uneasy. I personally find the image of the monkey rather disturbing. You said, "The visual and auditory messages being conveyed were strikingly negative. This included very robotic and electronic music, paired with images such as crosshairs centered around a baby's head." You are dead on in describing the scene at play. The way the commercial portrays the product is in a very negative light which most definitely gets the point across. I have seen the commercial multiple times and have realized that they don't give you any facts on the product. But why would they need to when they have images that scare you away? Anyway, I enjoyed your post and look forward to the next!}

^Erin