anti-smoking ad

This ad is shown in the previews of DVD’s, and actually really threw me off at first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFcphFan_WE

I was talking to friends when it first came on, so I didn’t understand that it was saying “this is what smoking companies will tell you”. It looked like a really over-the-top smoking ad, and so when the guy in the wheelchair started talking, I was confused and startled, undoubtedly the purpose of the announcement.

Whether this is actually an advertisement is sketchy, being more of a public safety announcement, but it’s use in media was interesting enough that I used It anyway. After all, this was not found on the internet, or on television… this was in the previews for a DVD. The movie Men In Black 3, I think.

I’m not sure why this was placed in the previews. Normally, I just skip them. I only didn’t this time because the disk wouldn’t let me. It doesn’t seem like a very good place for an announcement, though. It probably cost a considerable amount of money to put this in the previews of movies, and as I just mentioned, I normally just fast-forward or hit menu to skip my way through them.

So although the announcement reached me, it was a failed use of media. It found a place for itself where very few people would see it, in my opinion, and even less would pay attention.

However, I will admit that it was well-made. After all, I remembered it. They played off a lot of the classic images used in smoking ads then startled the viewers with an image of an old, dying looking man in a wheelchair. In this way, the shock factor was its main attempt to stick in the minds of the audience.

In spite of this, though, I’d say it’s use of media was not successful.