Comparing Smoking and Antismoking Advertisement

Comparing Smoking and Anti-Smoking Advertisement Have you ever gone to a movie that had huge ads with rave reviews, only to find that it was a waste of time and money? But by then it was too late you’d already spent the bucks on a ticket and popcorn. Advertising hype can make almost anything look attractive. That's what tobacco companies and their advertisers have done with smoking. They've taken a habit that's a turnoff smelly, expensive, and unhealthy and tried to convince you that it's glamorous and exciting. Tobacco companies use advertising to manipulate both teens and adults. They present images that are hard to shake, even when you know the truth. Have you ever seen a cigarette ad where people are wrinkled, middle-aged, and coughing or in the hospital dying of lung cancer? Of course not! In most ads, smokers are shown the way that teens would like to be attractive and hip, sophisticated and elegant, or rebellious and cool.
The manipulative nature of the “Camel” ads was intended to reassure a worried public about the product which was known back then as “coughing nails”. What's more reassuring than the small town doctor looking wise with a big smile. What they don't tell you in cigarette ads is that they want you to become addicted. Tobacco companies keep close tabs on the number of teens who are smoking. They worry when those numbers decline because they need new smokers to replace the ones who die each day from smoking-related illnesses like the one in the anti-smoking ads. Many teens start smoking because they have friends or older siblings who smoke. Some teens look at smoking as a way to get through parties, dates, or other difficult social situations. Smoking gives them something to do with their hands and makes them feel older or more sophisticated. Some teens smoke because they feel they look too young and that smoking may make them appear more like an adult. Some teens