Guest TheGame2705 Report post Posted February 7, 2003 I personally think EVERYONE knows smoking fucks up your lungs. No need to play volleyball with a bodybag or going sticking toothpicks in dogshit on a sidewalk to get the point across. About the anti-marijuana ones, I think they're quality only because they're funny. Why would the same damn girl on a bike go by exactly as the car is at the drive-thru window? Pot also isn't an excuse for a family member leaving out a gun unattended with which anyone could take/use. I also think the drugs support terrorist commercials are idiotic. Next you know, flushing will help Al Qaida know our top secret plans. Buying drugs funds the crack dealers of America not Bin Laden. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest KoR Fungus Report post Posted February 7, 2003 I generally like the Truth commercials because they're based on hard facts, and the shock value does a good job of getting people's attention without becoming dishonest. I hate the drug commercials because they're based on bad statistics and faulty arguments, and are more about trying to guilt trip people than anything else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest converge241 Report post Posted February 7, 2003 I dislike the commercials now more than cigarettes themsleves...Im just sick of them probably becuase ive never smoke a cigarette in my life (yes i did smoke pot and yes i know the tar in pot etc etc) so i just get sick of being overwhelmed with them i dont fault their cause thoguh or the general idea Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kibagami Report post Posted February 7, 2003 Truth commericals make me smoke more. K. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest kkktookmybabyaway Report post Posted February 7, 2003 Damn tobacco settlement -- had I known it would be funding this crap, I would have urged the tobacco lawyers to keep fighting... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DrTom Report post Posted February 7, 2003 My former website is no more, but almost a year ago, I wrote a piece about how much I hated thetruth's ads, and the real purpose they might possibly serve. It seems a couple of you share my opinion. Here's the article, which I still have saved on my PC: THE WHOLE TRUTH? I don't smoke. Never have, really, outside of an occasional cigar (Ashton Cabinets being my stogie of choice). But even though I choose not to pollute my lungs, the TV ads sponsored by thetruth.com are severely annoying. It was the ad with all the corpses and body bags that got me thinking about this. I don't have a problem with the principle of what thetruth.com purports to do: give people all the facts about smoking – especially the ones the tobacco companies don't want to tell you – and let them make up their own minds about it. But a lot of their recent ads have been delivering that message with a sledgehammer. It's one thing to present the facts and let someone make a decision; it's quite another to beat them up with the facts and indict everyone who has made a certain lifestyle choice in the process. After the body bags ad, they've only gotten better. There was the full frontal assault on the tobacco building, trying to drag some executives on camera. Not bad. Then there was the dog poop ad, where truth staffers left piles of what looked like dog poop around a large city, with a sign telling about the similarities in ingredients between dog turds and cigarettes. There was the "Ammonia-Ade" commercial, telling about the ammonia content of cigarettes by trying to pass it off as a sports drink. Um, yeah. Recently, I've seen their ad when a man dressed in a rat suit "dies" on a crowded city sidewalk, carrying a sign about how much rat poison has in common with cigarettes. I guess this is supposed to shame smokers into quitting, or scare them into it, because I certainly don't see any other useful purpose for these ads. I'm aware this is the era of shock media (and has been since the rise of Howard Stern), but beating people up for a choice they've made isn't going to endear them to your cause. Hell, I'm not a smoker and I feel this way; imagine how a lot of people who do smoke feel about the ads. But you know what? I have a theory about why thetruth.com makes their commercials so confrontational. They court controversy and public dislike for a very good reason, and you only have to follow the money to figure out what it is. Look who bankrolls those truth folks. The tobacco companies. It's part of their settlement with the government – you know, the one where they got ass-raped to the tune of half a trillion dollars for making a perfectly legal product – that they have to do this. It's their job to educate people about the dangers of smoking, ostensibly to deter them from taking it up in the first place. But thetruth.com makes their commercials so in-your-face, I can only come to the conclusion that the tobacco companies want you to hate the ads. They want you to think those truth.com kids are a bunch of sanctimonious pricks who are just trying to tell you how to live your life while mocking you for a choice you made. They want you to be mad at the ads. So mad, in fact, that you'll go out and buy cigarettes to spite those commercials. The tobacco companies still want your business, friends, and if they can get you to hate the "competition" in the process, so much the better. Anecdotal though it may be, I know several people who have refrained from quitting smoking simply because they hate the truth ads. If this is the tobacco companies' real motivation, it seems to be working. This is the problem with shafting Big Business, then expecting them to cut their own throats by talking negatively about their products. The tobacco companies are corporations, and corporations exist to make money. The fact that they're deliberately creating ads that are supposed to discourage smoking, and making those ads very easy to loathe, is all part of the money-making effort. My take on the whole tobacco settlement is that it was a steaming pile of horse manure. People choose to smoke, regardless of what goes into cigarettes or how and to whom they're marketed. Smoking is still a choice. People know the risks, and have known the risks since long before the US Surgeon General decided to put stickers on every pack. Hell, people in Shakespeare's time knew that smoking wasn't exactly the healthiest of habits. So if someone wants to rot their lungs away, it's their choice, and their responsibility. The tobacco companies should not be liable to the federal government, and they especially shouldn't be liable to seventy-year-old smokers with emphysema, who have decided their final act on this earth should be shifting the blame for their own choice and trying to get rich on their deathbeds as a result. If the tobacco companies created thetruth.com and its annoying brand of advertising to try and recoup some of the money they were screwed out of, more power to them. That's a clever business practice, and the cynicism behind it wins it more points with me. The next time you see a commercial from thetruth.com, remember who's actually paying for it, and why they might be spending that money. Regardless what you think of those crusading college kids in the ads, I promise your opinion will change, one way or the other. Written on 2/26/02. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob E Dangerously 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2003 It wouldn't surprise me if the cigarette companies had some way of subverting the anti-smoking messege by making the commericals so annoying. It's probably untrue though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooseCannon Report post Posted February 7, 2003 It had occurred to me, but I just figured the government would be smart enough to just have the tobacco companies pay for ads created by legit anti-smoking groups. Or maybe I'm just giving too much credit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted February 7, 2003 Who wants to bet that old black guy is really an actor and not homeless. The ad with the sick lady holding her baby was b.s. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest KoR Fungus Report post Posted February 7, 2003 The biggest problem with the Truth ads in my opinion is just oversaturation. If you make ten or fifteen commercials over the course of a couple years and run them constantly, then of course people are going to get sick of them. All the commercials themselves are fine, but they should cut back on how much they show them so that people don't get as fed up with them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Galactic Gigolo Report post Posted February 7, 2003 I know this doesn't deal with the Truth commercials, but the stupidest fucking commercial to come out of this is the one where they say that 1/3 of those who cause accidents test positive for drugs. I don't think I even need to speak of how dumb that statement is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted February 8, 2003 I watched the commercial saying how a joint has four times the tar of a cigarette, and a few things came to mind. First of all, are they comparing an unfiltered (obviously) joint to your average filtered cigarette? That would make a huge difference. Also, No one I know smokes twenty joints in a day, every day, unlike your average pack a day smoker. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest JMA Report post Posted February 8, 2003 Most of the anti-marijuana commercials are made by a group called Free Vibe. They are the ones who always say "marijuana, it's more dangerous than we all thought." Much more annoying than the Truth ads, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Eagan469 Report post Posted February 8, 2003 did you all see the latest Free Vibe ad? A secretary is doing her work at her desk, when all of a sudden a little girl pops up out of nowhere and says "hi". "Who are you?" the secretary says. The little girl replies "I was killed with a gun that was paid for by your money that you used to buy drugs" I was ROLLING on the floor laughing. They have people in hospitals DYING from cancer, and all the government does is pour millions of dolars into stupid TV commercials. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Olympic Slam Report post Posted February 8, 2003 The cigarette Truth ads piss me off because they spend MORE time bashing the people that make the cigarettes than the retarded concept of smoking. Just stick to the two most important points when it comes to smoking: 1. It will kill you eventually. 2. It's a total waste of money. That's what my dad (a smoker) always told me when I was a young. As for the anti-marijuana commercials, I think they do a slightly better job. But for the most part they blame pot on problems that REALLY aren't pot related. The lamest one aired during the Super Bowl in which a 14 yr old's parents found out that she was pregnant because she got high. Umm.....if you're daughter is 14, smoking pot AND having unprotected sex; then the problem seems to be "shitty parenting" more than anything. Blaming pot for your slutty daugther's behavior would be like blaming 9/11 on airplanes. They need to get to the point when it comes to drugs: If you become addicted to drugs you'll most likely become an unproductive member of society who will fail in the real world. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted February 8, 2003 No, see, in that commercial they were saying that the pot was in fact the thing that impregnated her. She's got nine months before vines pop out of her abdomen and a giant weed demon devours her corpse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Youth N Asia Report post Posted February 8, 2003 Let me start by saying I don't smoke anything, not marijuana, not cigarettes. The anti pot ones just make me laugh. I love the "If you smoke pot, you'll get molested by a creepy little boy at a crowded party in front of a lot of people" one...do they not know these are just more funny then anything else. And the teen pregnancy one was funny too...wouldn't have been better if the same girl was in both of them. Those ones pretty much just make up facts any way they see fit...I know pot heads and most of them are too laid back or mellow to actually go out and do anything. The Truth kids just bother me though. The commercials were almost funny the first time through. If they're going to save me from cigarettes by annoying the shit out of me, way to go. I'm not going to smoke because of these assholes, I'm not going to smoke cause I don't see the payoff of sucking black smoke into my lungs. Anyone who does that by now knows it isn't safe, and if they want to continue then fuck em...there will just be more room for me and my shit when it kills them. Fuck Truth, you annoying bastard kids who think you're so "cute" and "witty" Fuck Free Vibe, you blatant liars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cobainwasmurdered Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Truth commericals make me smoke more. K. Indeed. I need a smoke after watching those commercials. I really get annoyed by them espically the ones about second hand smoke showing people sitting next to someone smoking. If it bothered them that they were picking up second hand smoke they can JUST FUCKING MOVE. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BobBacklundRules Report post Posted February 9, 2003 I hate the "drugs support terrorist" commercials with a passion. Now I don't like or do drugs, but by paying taxes you support more terrorist activites than by buying drugs. Drugs support crack heads, crack heads support peeing on the street. And sluts cause more teen pregnancies than pot. While I was writing this I heard 2 different anti-marijuana ads on the radio, I swear to God. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Insanityman Report post Posted February 9, 2003 By far the worse one is on the radio... it has them talking about a stock meeting or something of that assort. It goes like this: "Then one of the stock holders asked 'What about babies who can't move away from smoke?" "The man replied, 'They all learn to crawl sometime!' How sick is that? Think how much they care about you if they think that about babies." I was on the ground cracking up for every anti-pot one so far. (I too smoke nothing). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Quite frankly the anti-pot ones that are saying "Stacy's dime-bag habit killed some little girl" arn't that far off from the truth. Junkies are consumers. They buy a product which is sold, in most cases, by ruthless people willing to use violence to further their product. If you buy drugs, and you think you are NOT perpetuating this corperation of violence, then you're very nieve. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted February 9, 2003 I started smoking for, aside from many other reasons, these fucking ads. Here's to Phillip Morris! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Satanico Report post Posted February 9, 2003 The thing that pisses me off is that allergy medicine or good cold medicine has much the same affect on your mind as pot. You don't see ads warning people about the dangers or driving while on Allergy medicine. The "drugs support terrorists" ads really piss me off. Yeah because as we all know the terrorists are in the business of dealing pot. Where are the "buying gas for your over sized SUV supports terrorists" ads. Ads trashing our total addiction to oil and calling it "supporting terrorist" would be a great commercials and would actually hold some truth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ultimo Dugas 0 Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Actually El Satanico, I saw a special on Fox News where there has been a commercial made linking oil to terrorism. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Junkies are consumers. They buy a product which is sold, in most cases, by ruthless people willing to use violence to further their product. If you buy drugs, and you think you are NOT perpetuating this corperation of violence, then you're very nieve. ..the part you're leaving out is the fact that these cartels use those methods because of anti-drug legislation. If the drug trade were properly regulated, as opposed to a black market full of violence and corruption, the point would be moot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Under no circumstances should the drug trade (at least in the cases of opium narcotics and cocaine) be regulated. It should be OBLITERATED. When 85% of all crime is in some way drug-realted, it's time to do something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest KoR Fungus Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Yeah, but the commercials aren't talking about opium narcotics and cocaine, they're talking about marijuana. And in the case of marijuana, the only reason why there's crime and violence surrounding it (to the extent that there even is) is that it's illegal. Legalize and regulate marijuana and you get rid of the entire criminal element surrounding it, and you even get some extra tax money in the process, instead of wasting unbelievable amounts of money trying to force drug laws. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Problem is, I wasn't just talking about pot when I said "junkies" I meant ALL users. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Luke Cage Report post Posted February 9, 2003 Truth commericals make me smoke more. K. Indeed. I need a smoke after watching those commercials. I really get annoyed by them espically the ones about second hand smoke showing people sitting next to someone smoking. If it bothered them that they were picking up second hand smoke they can JUST FUCKING MOVE. There are babies growing up in households where one or more members smoke. They can't "just ******* move". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cobainwasmurdered Report post Posted February 9, 2003 I've never seen a commercial depicting that. I was speaking about the commercials. I never smoke near children. I don't even like Smoking where children can see me. and to Zsasz, I've done a variety of drugs and I'm very sure the majority of the money I spent didn't go to terrerists. They went to my Cousin,My Doctor,My Neighbor down the block,etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
