According to AshtrayMouth.com :: Kissing a Smoker is Just as Gross as not only the proverbial "licking an ashtray" but also kissing a creepy bobble-headed doll with a maggot-infested rat in its mouth (a tv-spot that ran at just before 6:30 pm, when my 4-YEAR OLD was in the room -- thanks asshats) or a similar bobble-headed doll with whatever the cat just barfed up shoved in its mouth (that spot ran about 2 hours later).
For the record, I've kissed a few smokers and it's NOT THAT BAD.
I understand the whole anti-smoking thing, and I know they are trying to get the attention of youth by using a faux-retro stop-animation style and big anime-eyed dolls. I don't understand the need for hysterical hyperbole.
I am absolutely disgusted by these PSAs and angry with KCPQ for running them so early. I have a strong stomach; I can appreciate gore for the sake of gore but its place is not in the middle of a Simpsons rerun.
Grrrrrr.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Twitter
Link-o-Rama
Older Posts
-
▼
2005
(394)
-
▼
October
(41)
- spammers at bozzo.com.au
- Retarded Class Action Lawsuit of the Week....
- Happy Hallowe'en!
- Hellboy and his companion.
- Fat Fingers - Mash Any Key Now
- Porn on the Pavement.
- Knitting Rules
- Retro Sucks
- Don't these people watch Mythbusters?
- Death Makes a Holiday
- Gris Grimly : Wicked Illustrator
- productive day - phew!
- Little Sally!
- 'Mr. Floatie' Backs Out of Mayoral Race
- What is a Cake Walk?
- Poor Alton!
- Chaos and Calm
- Apparently, not much.
- Day of Protest in BC
- Local soap not so sudsy.
- New Review
- zero emission transportation
- Cutest Cars EVER
- Bad Boy.
- A Neo-Techie's Morning
- Are Canadian Bloggers Pussies?
- Toooo much turkey.
- Blog renovation
- Serenity review, as promised
- Better wear solid colours, I guess.
- Are Liberals Really That Scary?
- Gaiman and Whedon in one Evening.
- Wanted: Mugshot
- Largely a Lovely Day
- Happy Anniversary
- Yahoo! Can Scan Books Too
- Ultra-disgusting PSAs
- Real estate spammer
- Emergency Record Management 101
- CanCon in the Coffeeshop
- Early Anniversary Dinner
-
▼
October
(41)
My Creations
If you buy anything from these stores, let me know you saw it here and I will send you a free gift!
Followers
| Blog: |
| Flotsam & Jetsam |
Topics: |
| personal, victoriabc, rants |
Your Host
Copyright Statement
All writing and content Copyright © 2004-2009 Cheryl DeWolfe unless otherwise stated. Please don't use my words or images without express written permission.
8 comments:
Not only do we strongly agree with you, but I wrote the following letter to the "contact person" for the Ashtraymouth campaign, Scott Schoengarth [scott.schoengarth@doh.wa.gov ] and other supervisory entities:
[This letter concerns feedback regarding the "Ashtraymouth" antismoking campaign. Copies have been sent to Scott Schoengarth, DoH, and the Governor. If you have received this and are not empowered to make policy decisions, would you please forward this to someone who is? Thank you.]
Scott Schoengarth, Mary Selecky, Governor Gregoire, et al:
In 1954, attorney Joseph Welch's question to Senator McCarthy finally brought an end to an era of mania. He asked, "At long last, have you no sense of decency left?" The current abominable "Ashtraymouth.com" series of television commercials has us asking ourselves the same question about the antismoking media campaign by the Washington State Department of Health [DoH].
These Public Service Announcements or whatever they are -- one of which we saw while having dinner last night -- depict such things as a cat vomiting on a carpet and a puppet-girl putting this vomit into her mouth before she attempts to offer a kiss. Another shows her doing the same with a dead rat whose corpse is crawling with maggots.
So we ask ourselves, have we no sense of decency left? Is there no sensible boundary where far becomes far enough? It was quite one thing to be scary in antismoking commercials, as in the earlier DoH "smoking equals coffin" spot. Its another to be terrifying, as in other spots that graphically depicted cancerous lung tissue, etc. But this latest DoH campaign sets the bar at a new low.
There have to be definable limits and conclusions to all this attack-oriented advertising. It's becoming a media pastime. If it isn't stopped, DoH cameras will be rolling the AIDS wards in primetime, showing oozing sarcomas in an effort to stem unprotected sex.
The legislatures of this nation have not outlawed the practice of smoking. No matter how reprehensible we find the practice, no matter how we demonize the practitioners -- smoking is a legal activity that can be engaged in by consenting adults. Not even terrorists or pornographers have such sickening television campaigns directed against them. And, for good or ill, smokers are also parents, brothers, children, and solid members of our community, not wicked witches to banished from the realm.
Here is a positive suggestion: If you -really- want people to stop smoking and prevent others from starting, contact one of the clinics like this one in Florida ( http://www.stopsmokingorlando.com/onetime.htm ). There are many others around the country. These clinics use the "Anticholinergic Block Method" (a mixture of scopolamine and atropine) to block nicotine receptor sites in the brain. My father smoked 2 packs a day for 40 years and quit cold after two treatments. I also underwent the treatment, as there simply was no better advertising than a dad who recovered his health after giving up cigarettes.
In any case, we urge DoH and other supervisory personnel to reevaluate their reasoning. Please put a stop to negative media campaigns such as "Ashtraymouth".
Thank you for your time.
The Allens
Tacoma, WA
UPDATE
Here is the reply I received from Scott Schoengarth. It contains some jargon and boilerplate, but it does express their side of the issue. Immediately after the letter is our response.
Dear Allen Family:
Thanks for taking the time to share your concerns about our new Youth
Prevention ad campaign and an apparent lack of decency. Because you have
expressed such a strong interest in our campaign we thought you would like
to understand the strategies we employ to develop a prevention campaign like
this one.
Currently the tobacco industry spends close to $160 million a year marketing
their products in Washington state, and $15.15 billion across the U.S. To
combat this we must spend our ad dollars wisely, getting the absolute most
bang for our buck. We need to use an approach that will grab and keep the
attention of our intended audience.
It's important to remember that this campaign is aimed at 12-14 year old
middle/junior high school youth. It is not aimed at adults. Our goal is to
reduce the current levels of youth smoking, and to discourage other young
people from ever using tobacco products. To do this we had to get into the
mindset of the 12-14 year old, and deliver a message that they can relate
to. Therefore we worked with these youths to develop the concepts and
messages we used in our recent television and radio advertisements. They let
us know exactly what would work and what would not.
Due to our extensive research with youth through focus groups and
"on-the-street" interviews in Seattle and Spokane,
we decided to create more "edgy" ads based on the "gross factor." The
results revealed that youth (especially 12 to 14 year olds) already know
that smoking is bad for them, and a standard campaign focused on the health
effects of tobacco would not be effective. In addition, some kids seek out
risky behavior and glamorize the risk to demonstrate they are "hard core."
Health is not important to them, so the campaign needed a new and different
approach. With the help of our youth consultants we chose ads designed to
address the "gross" factor of smoking.
Extensive research showed that attractiveness, relationships and intimacy
dominate the youth mindset. Recognizing this we developed a campaign that
focuses on the negative ramifications on their social lives. Instead of
re-addressing the health issues of smoking, our "Gross" campaign
demonstrates that smoking is disgusting and will negatively affect physical
relationships with others. Also, the youth tell us that the "gross" factor
will catch their attention and keep it long enough for them to get the
anti-smoking message.
The TV spots are set in a dark, edgy atmosphere, which research indicated
was appealing to at-risk youth. And quite simply, the dolls provide
arresting images that compel the viewer to watch and take in the message.
Kids are used to watching video game images, cartoons, animated TV shows and
movies - as well as reality shows like Fear Factor and Survivor. As far as
the time of day the ads are scheduled, we have to show the ads during the
times that the 12-14 year olds are watching TV or listening to radio.
Our research showed the dolls and the gross images and sounds resonated
extremely well with that age group - much better than the image of an adult
telling them not to smoke because it's not good for them. They are not
"shocked" by the ads. In fact the most heard responses were "Awesome,"
"Cool," and "Gross," mixed in with giggles and laughter. They get the
message. Also we felt that the use of dolls, stop-motion animation and gross
sounds allowed us to push the gross-factor envelope, without doing things
that wouldn't be appropriate with human actors.
We hope our explanation of the science and intent behind our campaign has
helped you understand how we approached this very serious issue. Our intent
is not to offend anyone. But it is vital that we protect our youth from the
harms of tobacco products. We have received very positive responses from our
intended audience and we know they "get it". Once again, thanks for your
feedback.
By the way, I have passed your information about Anticholinergic Block
Method to our Cessation specialist. Thanks for sharing this knowledge.
Scott Schoengarth
Public Awareness and Marketing Coordinator
Tobacco Prevention and Control Program
Washington State Department of Health
Public Health - always working for a safer and healthier Washington
OUR RESPONSE
Dear Scott Schoengarth:
Thank you for your timely response and for forwarding our suggestion to the appropriate person.
After reading the information you provided about the current "shock and awe" media campaign, there is little doubt that DoH's targeted-demographic analyses are accurate. However, the truth isn't in the cold equations; what is effective is not always correct. The Arabs have been cutting the hands off thieves for centuries. Effective, yes. Correct, no.
The world is filled with evils of which tobacco is just one relatively minor player. By lowering the standards of decency to prevent smoking, we destroy our society in order to save it.
The Allen Family
Tacoma, WA
God forbid a shocking PSA campaign attempt to compete with Itchy & Scratchy.
I'm sure it's much easier to let your 4 year old watch graphic and shocking images when there's no meddling public health message in there.
While I agree that the commercials are shocking, you kinda shoot yourself in the foot with the whole "OMG GORE IN MY SIMPSONS COMEDY LAFFPACK" stance.
Also, to the "Allen Family", way to jump on the "HOLY COW, THOSE ARABS SURE ARE CRUEL" bandwagon. Very topical, however you lose 5 pts for not using a 9/11 reference.
OUR CONCLUSION
This AM, we received an "appreciate the feedback", devoid even of greeting.
This was just as well, because it was clear that our point was lost on Mr. Schoengarth. Our point was that the means dont always justify the ends.
The Department of Health feels that communicating with the most base understandings of tweens is justified by its effectiveness. Well, we think that strategy is just flat-assed stupid. (Talk like Snoop Dogg to get a 13 year-old to raise his grades and see how far it gets you!) It's the duty of adults to act like adults and to handle problems -- whether with children, smoking, or anything else -- like men and women. That approach gives young people a model of thinking and problem-solving, it provides something to live up to instead of something to live down.
Will this all help? Who knows ... our society seems to be getting a little wackier each day. We can only hope that enough folks are revolted by this "Ashtraymouth" media campaign to give the TV stations and the Washington Health Department a piece of their minds.
We sure did.
M. Allen
Tacoma, WA
ps
Thought "asshats" was hilarious. :)
To The Allens:
Thanks for letting me in on your correspondence with the Washington DOH and the Ashtraymouth campaign head. I opted to simply blog about it since I am in Canada, and if you think they took your opinion with a grain of salt, imagine what they'd think of mine! My husband contacted the registrar of ashtraymouth.com to complain about the content of the website.
To the Critic:
Yes, I let my 4 year old watch the Simpsons. Episodes we have seen dozens of times and can therefore choose to watch or not watch (many episodes do NOT include Itchy and Scratchy segments or any other gore or graphic images.
When the ad in question came on, the gore was in our face within 20 seconds, with no warning -- we couldn't even reach the remote control in time. If the ads are aimed at 12-14 year olds, they should run later in the day -- during prime-time or later -- not during the dinner hour or at a time when families might be relaxing at the end of the day.
CHERYL:
I must have had tired fingers last time since I forgot to thank you for putting up this nice blogspot!:) Also, it's quite understandable that Canadian citizens would expect to have little impact on American TV. We were still glad to hear that your hubby made himself heard on the issue, though. Can't hurt! hehe
TROLL:
Hey, we like "The Simpsons", too. The writing's clever, the characters are great, and the show is funny! We try hard to overlook their (frequent) excesses, such as in the "Itchy&Scratchy" segments, in return for a few good laughs.
UPDATE:
The following is an encouraging response from KCPQ.
Allens:
Thank you for your message. We appreciate your views on this important matter and we take input from our viewers very seriously.
In this instance we have already reviewed the situation and are working with the advertiser to find a suitable alternative plan for their anti-smoking message.
Martin Gustafson
Community Relations
KCPQ/KTWB-TV
1813 Westlake Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109
Yes, please keep writing our public officials. This is an outrage! Also, I noticed the news showed pictures from Iraq at 6:30 pm during my dinner. Seeing bloody people is disgusting. You can't spend the news hour on something more family-friendly?
How about this...don't let your kids watch so much TV. Turn it off during dinner. Go outside and play. And yes, there are lots of scenes in The Simpsons that probably aren't for kids. Justifying it by saying it makes you laugh is hypocrisy at its finest.
I remember all the outrage over Garbage Pail Kids too. Same exact comments. The terrifying truth: kids like gross things. They pick their noses, they make potty jokes, they put frogs and slugs in their pockets.
Scott's Fear Factor reference is dead on. Kids see that all the time, and I'm fairly sure they've had contestants actually eat cat vomit. Probably in a maggot-squirrel sauce.
Stop writing letters and be a better parent and your kids will grow up just fine. Hopefully as non-smokers.
I'm so relieved that a non-smoker was just as upset as my ashtray mouthed self was. Upset for the same reasons, no less...little kids don't need to see that. It's propoganda, I tell you! (just kidding...a little bit...)
Post a Comment