Opinions from around the country

The campaign against tobacco in America in the 1990s and today has reached an all-time low. Specifically, one television campaign that takes responsibility away from the smoker and places it on one side (the tobacco companies) doesn’t represent the whole truth. This group, the most obvious group to blame for frivolous anti-smoking advertisements, is known as “The Truth”.

In numerous television ads over the past few years, the organization has shown visions of “loaded” body bags being thrust onto a street below the offices of a major tobacco company, a giant paper shredder cutting documents and other materials (to show their disapproval at document-shredding by tobacco companies) and, most recently, the ridiculous connection between dog poop and cigarettes, in that they both contain ammonia.

This recent ad, in particular, is a complete waste of time. It’s hard to argue that anybody will think of dog manure when they’re puffing away on a cigarette. And why doesn’t this group help inform smokers of the many serious risks involved with smoking, and, more importantly, immediately follow that up with information to help those smokers who want to quit?

The truth is, tobacco companies don’t necessarily contain the nicest people in the world. They do have a long history of telling half-truths and deceiving the customer. But to solely attack one side of the problem only creates a larger problem.

By removing smokers from the equation and telling them and the public that tobacco companies are only to blame, the attention on quitting smoking and other issues becomes lost. It’s sad that this small but influential group of people, probably proud of themselves for taking on the tobacco companies while laughing wildly at their own commercials, has lost sight of the big picture.

In another ad from 2001, called “April Fool’s Day 2001,” The Truth says that Firestone recalled defective tires after 88 deaths ... while Johnson & Johnson recalled $80 million worth of merchandise when seven people died from tampered aspirin. They go on to argue that the tobacco companies should do the same with cigarettes, which allegedly kill 1,200 people per day.

Keep in mind, people didn’t know they were going to be killed by tires or aspirin. Smokers do know that cigarettes can kill them.

This editorial comes from The Daily Athenaeum at West Virginia University.
This column was distributed by U-Wire.

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2002