Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Today's Pro-Smoking Campaign

I wasn't alive back in the early years of smoking popularity. But, I'm pretty sure if I saw these ads, I would have dropped all my morals, standards, and common sense to light one up. I mean, after all, more doctors smoked Camels. If doctors are doing it.....


and clearly they make you stay younger. Forget the premature wrinkles and ugly teeth...I wouldn't get a double chin if I started smoking. When tempted, just reach for a lucky. Furthermore, it'll protect your throat against coughing!


....and Good 'ole St. Nick smokes, just to keep his throat from feeling all scratchy in that bitter cold winter air.


and let's not forget Betty Grable and Micky Mantle. I mean, there's some weight behind those advertisements.





All sarcasm aside, this is completely silly and ridiculous, right? I'm not sure the reason behind these ads. I don't know if it was because it was popular, or if there were those saying smoking was bad, and these ads came out to try to convince the public that there are benefits to smoking...other than looking cool, you stay thinner, younger, and don't get bothersome troubles like itchy scratchy throats. Now, tell that to someone who's been smoking for 25 years and has had cancer or is speaking through a hole in their throat. Now, we look at these and see how plainly ridiculous this is. There are very few people who would now say that there are any worthwhile benefits to smoking. Most people who smoke say "I know I shouldn't."

Recently I saw these 2 ads on tv. And I immediately thought of the smoking ads of old. As a way to defend the products "safety" and the backlash on high fructose corn syrup, the Corn Refiners Association has felt the need to come up with these commercials. Oh CRA. This, to me, just makes you look worse. Perhaps it's true, that in moderation it's ok. But can we honestly say that the American diet is one that does a great job of being moderate? When it's in everything, it's hard to eat it moderately. High Fructose Corn Syrup has been associated with obesity and diabetes. And I hardly think at this point that billions of dollars are being lost because people want to eat less high fructose corn syrup...however, if that's the case, we Americans will be healthier for it.





5 comments:

Vanessa Swenson said...

hahahahahah.
Brilliant comparison.
And we all know that Mexican Coke is better because they use real sugar cane!

Beth said...

This is great!

My eyes have recently been opened to the sheer amount of High Fructose Corn Syrup that we consume. It's not just in things that we consider "sweet" like juice and jam. It's in Salsa, ketchup, even BREAD. I mean come ON. Bread?

It makes me want to make more stuff from scratch.

Courtney said...

That's a great comparison!
Also, HFCS is ruining American farmlands, because we use HFCS and other corn products so much, farmers are having to produce corn to make any profits, and we are losing may varieties of heriloom seeds because of it. It also increases the prices of other produce, since fewer farms can afford to grow things other than corn. The way corn is manufactured is so unnatural-- the chemicals and genetic engineering of the "corn" is making people think it's healthy (like those commercials) when really, it's become something barely recognizable from what natural corn is supposed to be.
I could go on all day!

Jill T said...

Totally agree with the whole moderation point; it really is in everything and it is not good for you! I don't care what they say!

Anonymous said...

great post - I thought the same about those commercials. they are so silly.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails