Anti-vaping ads want you to vape

[@bethanybrookes8479]

The most effective anti drugs thing I ever sat through was when my highschool invited in a former addict to talk about it. This man, he never said that we shouldn't do drugs. He told us about the rush, the fun, the excitement, the happiness, the pain relief, the escape. He told us why people take drugs, he managed to cover so many perspectives ranging from peer pressure to a desire to forget it all for a short time. He just told us so many things about what he wished he knew when he started. About contamination. About mixing drugs and drink. About doing it alone. About reusing other people's needles. About the monetary cost. About the side effects. He painted a horrible picture, people dying left and right. But he never once told us not to use drugs. He never one told us off for using them (I had classmates at the time who I knew used them). Heck, he even gave advise for safer consumption and which drugs were less likely to do harm. But I think that might have been part of why it was so effective. Idk how to say it, but yeah. It was effective.

[@LMYS5697]

Watched my friend die of heroin addiction. At the end, he wasn't even using to feel good, just to feel good enough to get through the day, to keep the withdrawal at bay. I've tried it twice with him, I'll never use it again. I understand why he did, I also understand why he wished he could stop. DARE was a joke. FTP and fuck the DARE program.

[@danielsmokesmids]

Kids will always end up trying drugs. Harm reduction is the only way to help them

[@thecomentingcat6280]

While agree harm reduction is very important, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. @@danielsmokesmids

[@gliiitched]

True, though, some drugs, like alcohol, coke, heroin, and meth are produced and sold to satisfy and conquer markets. Yeah, kids will naturally stray towards drugs, but that means we need to abolish the market system that even makes destructive substances available. We need to make sure that in the future, kids don't choose heroin by stopping the production and trade of heroin outright by abolishing the worldwide drug market outright, and an overhaul of the culture that prioritizes research before drug use. It will take time, and a massive coordinated effort by all the progressive forces of the world, but a future where anyone and everyone has the ability to effectively research whatever medicine intrigues them and translating that into profound, serene, and otherwise life changing experiences on anything from weed, to mushrooms, acid, and even maybe salvia, is possible, and inevitable, so long as we don't go extinct.

[@loglorn]

Its almost like, much like sex ed, the most information the better.

[@Robin-of2jt]

i always think about the anti-drug campaign in my sixth grade science class. they told us to not huff paints, markers, etc. we all looked at each other like "you can do that ???"

[@caseyw.6550]

Lol

[@ttthecat]

Yup! Exactly!😅

[@supotter377]

Yeah they always showed the most niche ways to get high to like 11-12 year olds lmfao

[@sketchystrawberry302]

LOLLL same thing happened to me

[@oliverfalbo5555]

​@@caseyw.6550p WV

[@dakkyhue5800]

as a teen that is against vaping/wouldn’t ever vape, the depression stick/breath of stress air genuinely made me want to vape. the ads have fun colors, flashy details, a cool voice/graphics. that’s how you market a product, not deter people from it

[@GamerBoy-fe4fp]

Also a Teen, I swear I remember this man when I was watching NBC News with my dad. I don't know where that ad went but I still watch NBC news and don't vape so it worked?

[@kennydoggins1712]

Everytime I hit a weed vape I laugh to myself about "breathe of stress air" i understand that the weed vapes use the same coils and hardware so it's not entirely better than nic vapes but still gotta chuckle

[@hannahbroom2664]

Same! Makes it look enticing. I don't want to vape, but it's so colorful and doesn't actually get the message across

[@GamerBoy-fe4fp]

I remember though one anti smoking ad that scares me to death every time i think about it was that Terrie H. ad, if you know what i mean.

[@MrPiccoloku]

YES!

[@lizlambert4755]

It may be a fear mongering method, but my mom’s stories about her brothers’ addictions and one of them dying from an overdose when I was a little kid and then saying “so don’t do drugs, they might not kill you the first time but eventually they will” was what ran through my mind every time I was offered drugs when I was living in a party house and made me not want to even try. Also that basketball player that died from a cocaine allergy or whatever, that was alarming enough for me to be like nah no thanks.

[@loganmedia1142]

One of our local anti-drug nuts would always pull out that eventually they'll kill you line. And yes, eventually we're all going to die. So when that guy who has enjoyed a bit of cocaine his whole life dies at 80 they can say I told you so. Basically your mom was peddling propaganda. Most recreational drug users are going to live long and full lives. If you're worried about things killing you should also avoid cars, bicycles and sport.

[@kitkatbreaker1270]

Read the room dude​@@loganmedia1142

[@MaimeBow]

@@loganmedia1142you are being really dense lmao i think you know what this person is trying to say

[@Stack-of-pokemon]

@@loganmedia1142 drugs cause plenty of health complications, and it is a self imposed thing. A car hitting you isn’t self imposed unless you are stupid or suicidal.

[@Erin-lm2ew]

The only “anti-vaping” ad I’ve seen that’s stuck with me was the skit where 2 girls vape in a bathroom and one girl drops hers in the toilet. She’s so addicted she grabs it out of the toilet and reluctantly hits it. I don’t know why I think that’s the only anti-vaping ad I found myself paying attention to, and I don’t even vape

[@itznia_ok8069]

I saw that one too

[@emilyphillips1025]

The other “how far would you go for a hit?” ones are all pretty good too. I agree tho the toilet one was the most hard hitting

[@johnindigo5477]

And the one where the girl misses her bus cause she can't go a few hours without her juul.

[@Purplest_]

The worst thing about that exact ad, for me personally, I've had friends talk about doing this exact thing before.

[@Cmrnnn]

@@johnindigo5477i used to purposefully miss my bus if I didn’t have earphones 🤷‍♂️

[@luyao_w]

hi im a teenager who’s surrounded by ppl who vape in high school! i couldn’t agree more about the strength in story telling part. seeing tiktoks of young adults and teenagers talking about their negative experiences with vaping has been the most effective way of messaging. a lot of initiatives for anti vaping targeted towards teenagers always feel like they have some weird condescending nature and it just makes you wanna vape more lol

[@Xtroid]

Fr, it seems like a challenge

[@kenz2237]

totally agree with the campaigns sounding condescending, it’s like they want you to feel bad for vaping but it has the opposite effect. seeing them makes me want to hit the vape out of spite lol

[@erwidobi7812]

i shoulda fuckin rolled hu tao

[@nateleichner2569]

​@@kenz2237literally this, every time I got those ads it reminded me to hit mine, it was like a ritual

[@laurene8533]

I just saw a tik tok of a young girl in the hospital saying that her lungs are worse than an 85-year-old's because of vaping. That video was more effective than any anti-vaping psa I've seen.

[@wizardrave]

I say this all the time!! I’ve quit vaping and that “Breath of stress air” commercial was the number one thing that made it harder. The sound of the inhale and exhale?? Its like they’re just dangling a carrot in front of your face. They definitely know what they’re doing.

[@G4rfield]

I hate that ad so much. The breathing part makes me wanna go back to it when I haven't even touched one in MONTHSS

[@CeciliaBlossom150]

Literally the day I quit I started getting floooooooded with that ad. I can’t believe it’s a coincidence. It was the hardest part of quitting, every time I got the ad, BAM, huge craving. Congrats for quitting!

[@mjluv.]

i get that ad all the time and it’s literally so annoying omfg

[@beingmegucaissuffering.5326]

That ad sets off my misophonia so bad I hate it so much

[@twotruckslyrics]

@@beingmegucaissuffering.5326Thank youuu yesssss omg. i have misophonia to the point where i had to go online for school and like around that time when i finalllly had peace i was flooded with this awful ad

[@Skitty235]

I think one of my favorite instances was back when tiktok was showing them like crazy. They left the comments on and everyone was like "thanks I just took a hit while watching this"

[@reign_issue]

it was such a feeling of unity against them, lol. like the PETA of vaping

[@HungerGamesFan00]

leaving em on is either a bold move or a big flub by intern jimothy

[@byulharangforlife]

@@reign_issue if u watch this video, you will know that it wasn't against them..THIS is what they want

[@NeyamRye]

Frr

[@Kloiyd]

I have a feeling they left the comments on in purpose to encourage people to vape in a indirect way.

[@riotghoul4237]

i've never smoked or vaped and likely never will, however i remember once when i was 15 or 16 i was complaining to a friend about the sheer amount of very annoying and ultimately ineffective anti-vaping ads i saw all the time, and both of us reached the same conclusion of "it's tempting to start vaping out of spite" so make of that what you will

[@xyrissavage4983]

i've had an almost identical conversation. there a posters outside my university bathrooms with vaping information. Who's stopping to read this? it feels almost attacking. like you're trying to parent me. we're not high schoolers. how do you think you can tell me what to do? i should vape to get back at you- ah shit

[@dNorsh]

@@xyrissavage4983nah we had fetynal awareness pass posters in our school and it was saying spot the difference in the laced and not laced and I fr thought they were telling me the difference 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@Liusila]

Where do you see them though? Do kids watch cable?

[@cherryjasper1728]

@@Liusila I dunno about other music apps, but SoundCloud and Pandora would have them in very aggressive waves. Like, back to back, sometimes the same ad 2 times in a row aggressive. They were VERY annoying.

[@GoVocaloider]

I've always thought this about irony when I see people say they're "doing something ironically", and that is how doing something intentionally ironically (which I'm not even sure is an accurate use of irony), doesn't change the fact that you are participating in/contributing to/proving the effectiveness of the thing that you are making fun of - which is the truer irony.

[@d48731]

In my DARE program, they would let us submit anonymous questions and every week a cop would read out “Would SpongeBob smoke weed?” and get mad.

[@paein9642]

no patrick, weed is not an instrument.

[@xRaiofSunshine]

@@paein9642Horseradish isn’t one either 😒

[@cheeseofglass]

SpongeBob is too diligent and, well, a square. He wouldn't want to displease Mr. Krabs, who knows that SpongeBob would become a less effective employee if he became a stoner. SpongeBob wouldn't seek out weed and would be hesitant to try it under normal circumstances. However, he is known to be vulnerable to peer pressure. Patrick, a known slacker, would probably convince him to try it. This is basically already the episode titled "Hooky." Except Hooky ends poorly for SpongeBob and Patrick. If they got hooked on weed instead of hooks, SpongeBob probably would have just chilled and watched some dancing sea anemones on TV.

[@base4yrface]

@@cheeseofglass I would rip a fat blunt with squidward

[@rattmcpossum]

Thats beautiful right there, got a genuine laugh from me

[@naftalibendavid]

My daughter has the stuffed animal (DARE lion) that she won for an essay she wrote in grade school. It's right next to her bong. GREAT WORK, MAGGIE.

[@naftalibendavid]

Thanks for all the ups. I took a hilarious photo but can’t upload here. MAGGIE RULES! Save Martha!

[@Viteaification]

nice

[@FakeSchrodingersCat]

I remember coming out of a mandatory DARE assembly in high school suddenly wanting to smoke pot. They were so blatantly lying, I mean if everyone ODed the second they even looked at drugs why was there even such a thing as drug addicts. And the PSAs with all these attractive, successful people with drug problems. Combined with a teenagers ingrained anti authority mindset is it any wonder the program didn't work.

[@RobertHollander]

Thank you for the best laugh of the month (and possibly the year) so far.

[@downwordspiralofpiss]

Dude at this point, DARE is a part of stoner culture. If you ever see someone wearing a DARE shirt, they 100% smoke

[@quinintheclouds]

I grew up very goody-two-shoes, and whenever we'd have a drugs PSA or the DARE program visited, I remember thinking, "Why do we need this? Everyone knows drugs are bad!" And those heartwrenching PSAs told by real-life addicts had me TERRIFIED to so much as touch a cigarette. THOSE things worked. DARE, on the other hand? All they kept talking about was how fun and addictive these drugs are, how far addicts would go to get just _one more hit_ because it makes them feel THAT good, how heroin made all the pain and sadness go away, how crack made you feel intense happiness and invincible like you can do anything, etc., etc.... and then told us "Don't ever do any of these, because if you do, _you'll never want to stop."_ It didn't make ME want to do any of these, but I remember thinking, "Oh. So that's why people do it -- to them, it's worth it." The rest of the day was always full of students gossiping about how they want to try [x], just once, because obviously they were just trying to scare us with the whole "only once is enough to get addicted," and if it really feels THAT good, everyone should probably try it once before they die, right? Before DARE, none of us knew how to get or access drugs. After DARE, kids were huffing glue and sniffing markers, because those were readily available and felt cool and grown-up. Depressed kids would say they "can't wait to go on heroin" because nothing could be worse than how they feel, and they'd give anything to stop being sad even for a moment. Kids would say "Adults are hypocrites -- they tell us not to do alcohol but they drink ALL THE TIME. They probably do these drugs, too." It was such a failure all-around. What all drug PSAs SHOULD teach, imo, is how the War on Drugs was fueled by racism, and we should be critical of what info we hear, and learn the dangers from real-life addicts rather than corporations with suspect motives. But here we are.

[@quinintheclouds]

oh yeah, and I do weed now 💀 (though tbf weed is the most baselessly-fearmongered and least dangerous of drugs, including alcohol. Read about the Reagan and Nixon administration and how they've admitted it was racially-based)

[@quinintheclouds]

CLARIFICATION: Smoking of any sort is still bad for your lungs and vocal fold/larynx/trachea/overall respiratory system! I personally only take edibles bc I have asthma and a mom who smokes cigarettes, so I avoid that shit. Be safe, y'all!

[@sooofunny37]

@@quinintheclouds i ate a bad gummy bear-i thought i was gonna die

[@estebanod]

Lol 🙄

[@solarleaf2029]

Ditto man. Everytime I saw one of those ads as a kid it make me piss myself dry. Something about the tone of the ad paired with the classic spooky serious white text on screen worked so well.

[@ryangriffin5362]

It's been so terrifying seeing young people around me get addicted to nicotine when it JUST seemed like the cycle was being broken. These companies are so insidious.

[@Jogjosmowwdkfs]

My sister is 21 and she's been vaping since junior year of hs. Terrifying to me, especially since she's doing it with the tone of "this will kill me haha oh well."

[@DownTrodded]

@@JogjosmowwdkfsSounds like my weed and alcohol addicted cousin river. I didn’t see her in months possible a year I go there to get my cousin my other cousin her older brother sage to see if he wants to do some work it was a job for his moms new boyfriend helping fix up some house his house the house he was and had been working on for 20 years for a couple of dollars. I don’t think iv been paid yet might go back to do some more work with sage anyways. I go into the house there she is sitting with her new girlfriend strung out on what I only hope is weed in the kitchen at the kitchen table unable to look me in the eyes just looking at me for a few seconds before looking around and at the ground. Her expression clearly shame and embarrassment she opens her mouth as if shes going to talk introduce me to her girlfriend who is also an addict. But she doesn’t I make eye contact with her and I know for a fact I give her a look of “no don’t I’m done with you I didn’t say anything because I don’t have anything to say you know how I feel about what your doing if you want to still be family to going back to begin family you have to stop at least to the point where your not strung out when talking to me.” So she shut her mouth then I looked at her girlfriend in the eyes and she was in the same state as river embarrassed felling bad and unable to look me in the eyes because even to her it was clear the kind of individual I was what my stance was why I haven’t said anything and only been looking around judging. Skipping ahead a bit I walked one of their dogs came back to put them away and check on sage to see if he was ready he decided to go. River and her girlfriend are in her room best guess is because they didn’t want to see anymore of me judging them. Me and sage head out to the car the boyfriends car as I’m sitting in the car ready to go they come out to say goodbye as they leave one last look in the eye and her girlfriend starts to tear up river puts her arm around her and gives me a look of anger I roll my eyes while chuckling a little. Then we headed off. My cousin isn’t even a teenager yet or barely is I can’t remember which nor do I care to remember I couldn’t care if I wanted to because in a part of my mind she’s already dead.

[@danielsmokesmids]

​@@Jogjosmowwdkfsthats how i felt when i started smoking cigarettes. Now i hate it. I still smoke em and vape but i feel years slipping away every time. Drug laws made me a cigarette addict. I was doing just fine smoking weed and vaping but then i got on probation and had to quit the weed but still needed something to smoke so i started smoking cigarettes again.

[@N8Dulcimer]

100% the parents fault. Half of them didnt even know what vapes were until their middle schoolers had already been smoking them for years.

[@_kaleido]

it sucks, Gen Z was the first generation to kinda come close to being nicotine-free, but then companies came out with bright-colored pens that look trendy and high-tech and have fun flavors.

[@brendan9868]

Fun fact these anti vaping actually caused me to relapse while I was trying to quit vaping by constantly bombarding me on every platform imaginable while I was doing everything I could to not think about nicotine. So great job truth, you did the exact opposite of what you claim to wanna do

[@jaydetbh]

exactly!!!!!! the complete opposite of what their “intentions” are. i started smoking way more when i saw those ads

[@Benry1]

Same they made me think about vaping ALL the TIME while I was trying so hard to stop. I didn’t end up stopping till those ads slowed down

[@claudias.7762]

so true. they were a constant reminder when i quit for the first time

[@MitsyWuzHere]

Yeah man, as of recent with these new turquoise warnings, now every time I walk into a gas station they have a bunch of signs posted reminding me that I want to smoke

[@gaz6341]

this happened to me as well 😭

[@pendremacherald6758]

Best Anti-drug PSA I ever saw was one about meth in middle school. Kid is sitting in a coin laundromat in a hoodie. Another version of him with facial scarring walks in and threatens an old man and middle aged woman, who both cower in fear. He robs them of their coins, then approaches the original version of him and screams, “THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR LIFE!” That shook me to the core, and I will never forget it.

[@NeyamRye]

Wow.

[@mikeyizdead]

IVE SEEN THAT

[@DrRandomAccount]

That was literally such an amazing PSA. I didn't consider doing meth but after watching that I REALLY didn't consider doing meth

[@athena6832]

All of those Not Even Once ads were incredibly powerful! I remember the one where the kid is about to do meth, he's looking over at this other guy lying on the floor screaming and picking his skin. The kid goes "I'm only going to do meth once, I'm not going to end up like that guy." Then it's a horrifying spiral of him repeating that same thing, increasingly desperate for it to be true. Until he's lying there, twacked out, and a girl this time looks over at him from across the room and says "I'm only going to do meth once, I'm not going to be like that guy."

[@TShaloma]

I remember that one and felt the same way.

[@garlicbread3401]

The first couple times I saw the "depression stick" ads, I legitimately thought it was an ad FOR vaping. The ads themselves are contradictory and confusing, and the music, and imagery in those ads were chosen to be soothing and fun. They absolutely know what they're doing.

[@angellynn7104]

Omg me too! It was crazy

[@kaiden763]

The most effective anti-tobacco ads for me were the ones with real people telling their stories, and then the text at the end said these people died soon after filming the ad. The ad was one of the last things they did in the world, and it was them telling the world their regrets. Edit:Fixing my horrible spelling. Why you no work spell check. I rely on you.

[@sea5078]

I remember a documentary we had to watch in high school about this guy trying to recover from a crippling alcohol addiction. Towards the end, it started to tell the story in a way where it seemed like there was a light at the end of the tunnel and he would survive because he finally wanted and started to chance. Then the movie ended, stating that he died some month(s) after. That movie really struck me, because I think I was so used to movies always having some resolution where things (maybe not all but most) work out fine. But this wasn’t just a movie, this was a real person who lived, who shared what left he could tell before succumbing to his addiction.

[@SeekerGoldstone]

Did you know that those people are actors? There was never a woman named Barbara Tarbox and the woman who played her never smoked. The "smoker's lungs" are staged from offal of various animals the same way that fast food places stage plastic to look like delicious burgers. Anti-smoking ads are also an industry.

[@sheevinopalpatino4782]

I enjoy my cancer. Leave me be.

[@banjofangirl3458]

​@@sheevinopalpatino4782naw

[@RockandrollNegro]

If you're going to shorten the word "advertisement," then don't add an extra 'd'. It's just 'ad', not 'add'.

[@yoda5436]

yeh the old ones with actual smokers talking to the camera scared the shit out of me, they should've continued doing that, it seemed waaaayyy more effective

[@Tieigo0]

Timestamp?

[@yoda5436]

@@Tieigo0 10:52

[@ExtraThiccc]

I guess there's no people who have lost their lungs from vaping

[@yoda5436]

@@ExtraThiccc well duh, shit hasn't been around long enough for masses of people to get sick yet, but it will happen lmao

[@uskeeze2131]

@@ExtraThiccceven they know the visual after effects from cancer from smoking tobacco doesn’t really correlate with vaping. I’m surprised they haven’t just went ahead and lied though like the rest of the anti vaping commercials.

[@lillyjackson7668]

They told us in health class that it causes weight loss, and postpones hunger and I heard other ppl around me talk about that when vaping. So they made it sound like a good thing instead of a bad thing

[@benpowell5348]

i love how perfectly that illustrates the external issues that drive drug and vape and smoke use etc. If people are constantly seeing a body image that doesn't match theirs and feel inferior or embarrassed, of course they're gonna think it's a good thing to lose weight and postpone hunger. If somebody is suffering from a ton of anxiety in their environment, they might even 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to trade that for a softer cookies and cream flavored depression because it's cheaper than therapy in our for-profit medical system and they're forced to continue working their butts off to survive cause wages have been stagnant for so long

[@JackOLanternBob]

Yes it can decrease hunger, possibly resulting in weight loss. It made me usually not feel hunger until the evenings, and it also made me more lazy, and many days I would be too lazy to put in the effort to eat, I'd just vape instead because it was easier than eating. I started trying really hard to gain weight, but it felt impossible, and I kept losing more and more weight. Once I stopped vaping I was surprised how I started feeling hungry again and was able to eat a lot more

[@Aryat51]

That's a good recipe for an eating disorder

[@dipperdandy]

Yeah, I briefly dated a girl who basically just lived off of cigarettes (this was like, ten years before vapes became a thing) and diet coke. "To keep thin". I don't understand how she could survive like that.

[@ZebraLuv]

You know what else makes hunger go away for the same amount of time at almost no cost? Drinking a glass of water.

[@Max-vi5lw]

I quit vaping, and it was tough, but I did it. But now I get ads saying “vape cravings can take you out of the moment” which ironically makes me think about vaping and gives me cravings

[@ConstellationEternalLucidDream]

I’d put ads on mute or maybe get Adblock I’m so sorry

[@littlegaybee.]

ublock origin. its free, and it completely blocks ads

[@quinintheclouds]

that's so awful, congrats for being able to quit, that must have been so hard. Like the above reply said, adblock is a great option (I know the Chrome version doesn't work anymore, but that's bc Chrome is owned by Google, which profits off youtube ads. Get Firefox instead -- it won't sell your data and its adblock actually works!)

[@isqqcc]

its like, if you're trying to make someone quit porn, and show them porn while saying "don't watch this!" it's very fucking obviously not going to work.

[@NotNochos]

Congrats on quitting, btw!

[@5Amigos32]

I'd wear a shirt that says " if you like anxiety you'll love depression "

[@denverrandy7143]

I'm gonna hafta pick that one up

[@Jayeon139]

One of my best friends thought that like was so hilarious she had a shirt made that says that and she wears it to school all the time

[@Elizabeth-iu7lf]

I’ve been nicotine free since April now. The most difficult thing about quitting wasn’t seeing people around me vape. It wasn’t the smell of fruity vape juices enticing me when I was in public around vapers. It wasn’t even having vapes in my possession. The hardest thing about quitting was the stupid anti vaping ads showing me all the reasons I started vaping, and reminding me that the self destructive behavior I chose to partake in would in fact hurt me in the way I wanted it to when I started vaping almost 3 years ago. I think what they wanted me to think was “oh, that’s bad, I shouldn’t do that” without realizing that myself and others who partook knew the negatives and still chose to hurt ourselves. There needs to be more thought put into the fact that people know it’s self destructive and those, like myself, who struggled with self harm through youth found that to be a way out. As terrible as the thought is, many vapers started as an alternative to traditional self harm and saw vaping as a way out because it’s so deadly. The ads don’t help remind us of all the reasons we should stop, it reminds us why we started and how easy it would be to keep going and let it take our lives.

[@wadexworld83]

Fuck, this hits a little too on the mark.

[@Helagandshunter]

yay i now have a new existential crisis to deal with

[@ZebraLuv]

They have substitutes that are water used to prevent relapse. Some have vitamins or calming supplements or caffeine. Some people even switch to nebulizer inhalers or other steam devices. The cold turkey quit is proven to not work and half the addiction is the ritual of the habit. So it's good they have options of substitution.

[@cinderfox5217]

Yeah my friend with only one kidney paired with heart and lung issues bought cigarettes and smoked the whole pack, I asked him why and he just said he was desperate. At the time I thought it was the dumbest excuse I’d ever heard. But you describing it as self harm actually really makes sense with what they were going through at the time

[@justinelighthouse6047]

Good job

[@indiestripper5374]

whats really freaky is that I'm 26 and NEVER have seen the "that's metal" ad even though I vape and smoke cigarettes. That leads me to believe that the ad is being targeted at younger demographics. No 16 year old is gonna not vape because an ad showed them a big cool looking animated monster that transforms into a vape. When I was a teenager the "stoner sloth" was going viral and it became a mascot instead of a deterrent.

[@Tritailed-Shenanigans]

It is targeted towards kids! Almost all of the anti smoking ads are directed at preteens-teenagers. As most people start smoking in their teens.

[@miraenofficial]

I’m 23 and I get the THATS METAL ad constantly

[@mareteria]

Stop doing that

[@hannahluden2245]

My partner is a stoner, and he has told me the stoner sloth and the one with the deflated girl on the couch were just super funny to him.

[@kittymmeow]

I'm 27 and I would get the "that's metal" ad all the time while watching gaming streams on Twitch. I don't know whether I was getting it from being demographically targeted but the fact that it's being shown to all the gamers on Twitch makes me feel like it's targeted to the kind of people who would find that kind of visual cool, which is hilariously ironic.

[@Dvcks]

Those breath of stress air ads ran on tiktok for MONTHS and every time I looked at the comments it was just confused people wondering why tiktok would let them advertise a vape lol.

[@orphantheism]

the annoying thing about that depression stick ad is like....it does help, that's the problem. From when I was 17 until fairly recently (im 23 now) I would smoke/vape and smoke weed a lot to "keep the demons at bay" so to speak. it helped me sleep, it helped me calm down, it helped me form coherent thoughts. what changed that now I'm trying to quit? i found out i have schizophrenia. it took my therapist sitting me down and telling me that scientifically, nicotine does help the symptoms but that the short term relief isn't worth the long term harm. it actually made him tear up talking about how it hurts him to see someone so young and bright eyed killing themself slowly. that's what made the change; genuine human connection.

[@purplehood8418]

Glad you’re taking care of yourself! 💪🏽 😤

[@Ariel-lol]

Vaping and smoking doesn’t fix your problems, it’s just temporarily pauses them. And that should be said more often. I hope you are doing well health wise now.

[@NeyamRye]

Damn I'm sorry bro

[@hellworm]

smoking weed can actually increase your chances of schizophrenia under 20. i made sure they diagnosed me with it BEFORE I started smoking, to be sure

[@atlas6864]

one of my friends is doing the same right now at 15 years old. was there anything specifically said that stuck with you and helped you get motivation to quit? I'm really worried and don't want it to get worse than it already is, but nothing i say seems to stick with him. no pressure to reply, of course. hope you're doing well!

[@mitchelldsm6222]

"everyone gets one conspiracy theory" *outlines something very well backed up by data from several sources*

[@dr.blockcraft6633]

This is, By definition, A conspiracy Theory. They are Theorizing about The existance Of a Conspiracy.

[@PalmistsHouse]

quite a few 'conspiracy theories' have had evidence to back them up, and have turned out to be true. the watergate scandal is a good example

[@xald1234114]

@@PalmistsHouse conspiracy theory is used and thrown around to purposely conjure an image of immediate dismissal as soon as you hear something called a conspiracy theory. it's like calling someone a nazi immediately makes you perceive their actions as more dictatorial than they are, like calling someone a feminazi is meant to make it seem like feminists are evil for wanting special treatment for women and trans women

[@woodfur00]

And the ones that are bullshit can still present convincing cases if you listen to them long enough

[@XavIsOnline]

Pretty sure the term serves more as a pejorative than a strict evidentiary threshold. Social taboos informed by popular narrative. Though in the technical sense it also is a theory about conspiracy regardless lol

[@syntheticat-3]

the first time my family encountered that first ad, my sister and i both misheard him as saying "nipple and lead," invoking a level of terror and confusion previously unknown to us.

[@ardenr3533]

lolll i always would imitate that ad and say nipple and lead

[@ronal8824]

"just say no" has the same sort of vibe to "just dont be depressed"

[@emilyyyyyyyyyyyyys]

depressed? Just be happy 😍

[@alexdeville1110]

“Don’t be depressed” Yeah no shingles dude, that’s mah fudgin problem(not talking to you)

[@16shuu]

literally 😭

[@viscountrainbows2857]

"Are you homeless? Just buy a house, smh skill issue"

[@FirstnameLastname-jd4uq]

wdym you don’t have money? Just get money @@viscountrainbows2857

[@Dragon-365]

I saw the “little lungs in a great big world” ads a lot growing up and that definitely traumatized me off of smoking. They were always playing on children’s tv channels but they were so graphic and I had asthma so I was like ‘my lungs are already little oh god’ whenever I got them on KZbin videos it was like a race to hit the skip button before an episode of happy tree friends played out

[@Phloamz]

omg i remember those they were like claymation

[@anxiousoptimism5517]

I remember those as well.

[@crazyowlgirlcncowner]

Another asthmatic here also traumatized by how much I already struggle to breathe, even without smoking 💀

[@iiCounted-op5jx]

bro that shit was weird 😭😭

[@ep9158]

these genuinely horrified me, especially the skiing one in specific. i would have to physically turn and look away during those ads.

[@TheChrisHype]

At San Diego Comic Con this year, they actually had a full sized model of the “metal monster” my wife and I took our pictures with. It was actually pretty cool. Only problem: unless you looked at the finest of fine prints on the poster that they handed out with each photo, you wouldn’t even know what the hell they were advertising.

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Omg

[@user-uv2cp1qd1j]

That’s so fucking funny. I can imagine someone coming up to it and being all “Yeah guy loving these transformers films these days” And when the staff at the booth start going on about vaping of all things

[@amberhernandez]

That's metal!

[@x_dana_x]

they could’ve easily had the metal monster stopping on a vape and it would’ve been a way to prove their point. and u know what? ppl probably would’ve liked it BUT INSTEAD they just skipped over their point almost entirely 😭

[@Legitpenguins99]

My favorite anti drug ad is Lou Albano dressed as Mario telling you "Don't do drugs because you'll go to hell before you die" "Please" Apparently he had just lost his best friend to heroin. I used to think it was hilarious but years later after being addicted to just about every kind of drug it hits a lot differently

[@nn8009]

"You'll go to hell before you die" is a really accurate description of opioid addiction especially the withdrawals if you try to quit or dont have access to any

[@daveburklund2295]

In 5th grade a police officer came to our school and part of the presentation was a film illustrating how psychedelics change your perceptions. I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

[@MadChild628]

In our dare program the officer brought in drunk goggles so we could see how weird it would look when drunk

[@wall-e5869]

​@@MadChild628 i think it will make drunkness look attractive for kids😬

[@wall-e5869]

​@@MadChild628bringing in homeless drunk would be more effective

[@loganmedia1142]

@@wall-e5869 But effective at what? My grandfather was an alcohol addict and spent every cent on drinking. But he's not typical. There'd be no point parading someone like him around as an example. It's really the same with almost every other recreational drug.

[@sasha-is-eepy]

who tf is telling fifth graders about psychedelics???

[@thecluckster3908]

The worst part of the “metal in your lungs” ad was that THEY PUT THE WILHEM SCREAM IN IT?!?!? I have no idea why they added a scream meant to be funny in an ad like that.

[@TheTownHeifer]

THEY DID 😭 Finally someone mentions that

[@thecluckster3908]

@@TheTownHeifer it’s bugged me ever since I first saw the ad

[@ThatWorldWideWeb]

editor really looked up “scream sound effect free download” 💀

[@ndi4926]

To lighten the mood and make you subconsciously not take this too seriously. People could carry coffins by with little psychological effect if they did the pole dance.

[@MisaMisaIsOnTop]

I had to make an anti-vape ad for a school presentation in health class I didn’t focus on what’s in the vape I didn’t focus on the cancer it could cause. I just set up a slide show showing vapes that blew up in people’s faces causing them to be permanently disfigured. I showed them that lung cancer isn’t the only way vapes can kill. Told them a story I saw on the news of a vape blowing up and killing a father. I’m not sure it worked but I’ll never forget how scared the kids in the back of the class looked

[@MisaMisaIsOnTop]

I originally tried to use the “are you really gonna let them take your money” but my teacher said I was being “shallow” and “superficial” so I went the gore route

[@EmiCubez]

One of my friends vapes blew up in Atlanta due to heat. Right after hit it and set it on the floor boards, it exploded and the whole passenger side of the car has caught fire. It was a blessing that they got out with minimal damage to them

[@MisaMisaIsOnTop]

@@EmiCubez oh wow that’s terrible I’m really glad everyone was okay

[@haleyw5677]

@@MisaMisaIsOnTopthe cost is a big reason why I have always avoided nicotine. I tried snus in Sweden out of curiosity, but i was never gonna risk getting addicted because I was not gonna spend that kind of money

[@MisaMisaIsOnTop]

@@haleyw5677 I honestly understand I was thinking about trying out vaping till I saw how much vape juice was. I’m honestly grateful for it

[@evelynsaunders1285]

YES! I've been saying for years about how unsettling it is that vapes are marketed to children. The bright colours, the sweet flavours, the relatively cheap price. Most of my friends had never touched a cig when they started vaping. One of my friends started smoking as A WAY TO QUIT VAPING!!! And without the introduction of vapes, smoking and nicotine would have almost died out in young people. I can't believe this level of manipulation is legal.

[@emmalineconrad244]

taking up smoking to quit vaping is so real. not having the flavors, having to go outside, smelling like stale smoke until you change your clothes... genuinely think switching to darts can help people quit vaping. I've seen friends do it and I might try it myself. I started with cigs when I was a teen and smoked them on average a few times a week for years with occasional binges, but I never had cravings outside of that. of course plenty of people do, but it never became a regular enough habit for me that I felt like I couldn't quit or would have withdrawal symptoms. when juul came out everything changed so quickly. everyone around me had one, before long I did too, and that was six or seven years ago and I'm still addicted. I really do think that just the hassle of having to stop what I'm doing, put on a coat, go outside, and feel dizzy and nauseous after the first few inhales would be enough to deter me or at the least help me taper down significantly. Smoking darts is hard enough to quit, but the ready availability of vapes, the myriad of flavors, cute designs, and zero effort required to smoke them are setting kids up for a lifetime of severe addiction. it's like a baby having to quit a pacifier, but there's no parent to take it away, it's everywhere, and everyone you know is offering you one if you do manage to get rid of yours. it blows my mind to see my little cousins, some of them as young as 12, passing it around like it's a toy. I think the elfbar types are particularly insidious, waaaay too many flavors, so bright and cute and modern looking, relatively cheap and couldn't be easier to get. now that the train's left the station, I don't know how you stop it. even if they ban them, people will still be importing versions that might be even more dangerous and utterly unregulated. I think this is going to become a major major problem in healthcare, and it's going to start affecting people younger and younger. these companies suck so fucking bad, and clearly the "awareness campaigns" do too. like, yeah, I'm aware of vaping, thanks for reminding me about it lmfao. soul sucking cretins.

[@BryanJohnson4891]

⁠Vapes don’t get nearly hot enough to put metals in your lungs in any relevant quantity even after decades of heavy use. Hence why countries like the U.K. who rank twenty places above the US in healthcare quality - a country mind you that DOESNT HAVE TOBACCO COMPANIES PAUING FOR ANTI VAPING ADS LIKE THE US DOES (search truth initiative), say vaping is 99% safer than cigarettes. Nobody has ever died from legal nicotine vapes. Nobody has ever contracted a serious health condition from them. And long term studies? 1. We don’t need them if each ingredient has been studied for 70 years already And 2. We have 20 year studies showing zero serious health conditions caused by vapes. The CDC is literally paid by tobacco companies to lie about vapes. Not a conspiracy they accept billions from Phillip Morris et Al annually. And the only people who lose from vaping are tobacco companies. Vape liquid and vapes have far smaller profit margins than cigarettes. The vaping fear in the US is moronic. If all current smokers switched to vapes and all non smokers also started vaping, that would be better than having 5% of the population smoke.

[@JohnDoeWasntTaken]

@@emmalineconrad244 I've been a vaper since 16 years old and only smoked a single cig in my life. If vapes were never invented I'd have never developed a nicotine addiction so they really are some evil stuff. No matter how bad I withdraw off nicotine though I never reach for a cig, I threw my vapes away yesterday and I'm done with nic.

[@moondalo5612]

I’ve literally had to start smoking cigarettes to quit

[@hellworm]

​@@moondalo5612can you try nic patches or gum

[@iamalphalim]

I remember seeing an anti-smoking ad aimed at teens in a comic book back in the early 2000s "TOBACCO IS WACKO ... if you're a teen" said the headline It was a highly stylised psychedelic illustration of a guy smoking and coughing but because it was so stylised, he kinda looked like he was dancing and having a good time Across this illustration at the top of the page you read TOBACCO IS WACKO Yea, these guys are masters at manipulative messaging You can't expect the foxes to guard the chicken coop 😂

[@teehee4096]

"if you're a teen" 😂... as if tobacco is healthy for adults!

[@your_average_nerd6861]

I thought the phrase "Tobacco is Wacko" was only used in JackPop's video "The Bully Busters 2" which was a joke ad about smoking. It's all come full circle.

[@-alovelygaycat-]

There’s so many of them I can’t tell which one you’re talking about. The one that looks most like a guy dancing is from 2001 but it looks more like a mosaic than anything and the “Tobacco is Wacko” is spread out across it.

[@LupaDracolis]

The anti-drug campaign I always think about was those pencils that said "DON'T DO DRUGS" down the side but if you sharpened your pencil enough it said "DO DRUGS" lol

[@crawlspacedweller]

And if u sharpen it more it just says "DRUGS"

[@veniankween130]

Could have been fixed by writing them the other way around too. Then it would say “DONT DO”.

[@Oldass_Deadass_dumbass_channel]

@@veniankween130 that would require good foresight and planning, both of which are things anti drug campaigns are notoriously terrible with.

[@Stickat2]

And if you sharpened it more, it would say "RUGS"!

[@vexayen1675]

That sounds hilarious I'd love one of those

[@p.scottl3447]

My friends and I used to shout "I learned it by watching you!" Whenever we basically did anything. That PSA was nothing but a joke.

[@Cactrot]

Used to? It still hits 30 years later.

[@juanvasquez6535]

This is a catchphrase in my life every day.

[@mr.pavone9719]

I swear the Dad in that PSA was a porn star. Like, seriously. He looks exactly like a late 70s, early 80s porn star who went by the nom de film "John Seeman" .

[@Andyanddiana467]

Haha! My wife and I still yell that to each other when we're goofing around.

[@thatonedude9744]

I never once saw the ad air and I also use that phrase frequently

[@Faeron.L]

There was a set of commercials, maybe in the late 2000s or early 2010s, that was very effective at scaring me off from smoking (among other factors). One was about a man pulling his own teeth out to pay for a box of cigarettes, and one was about a woman (I think) tearing her skin off for a pack. Both of those made me so sick to watch, but they worked.

[@ambrosiadreamer]

THESE ONES YEAH. i think abt the skin one all the time. she takes off her cheek to pay for a pack and it represented how smoking can ruin your skin. those and the one where it's a science class and the pack of cigs turn into some kinda bug monster thing scared the shit outta me. i eventually started smoking (and then vaping).... but only when the "hello fellow kids" commercials were a thing LMAO

[@sceneshootergirl88]

I REMEMBER THOSE 😭

[@anny8720]

wait the skin one is unlocking a forgotten memory 😭 I think I watched that one too during a health class, I also saw a documentary that included a person with a hole in their throat from smoking. I think disgust is a effective deterrent for anti smoking ads

[@leaf2182]

i remember these oh my god they were traumatizing, they're still engraved in my brain

[@trppstar]

Wasnt that long ago lol

[@Cinnimin]

can we just talk about the fact that the BreathOfStressAir ad's slogan is "See For Yourself"

[@FectoForgoGaming]

That's what will actually cause addictions. The start of a lethal addiction is the testing phase...

[@Stack-of-pokemon]

What…

[@anbesssa]

14:28 As a depressed person, seeing the “depression stick ad” really had me joking in my head “Why just depressed when I can be depressed AND breathe cookies and cream?! Yum!!” This is right up my alley in humor

[@nilladrawsstuff]

As another depressed person I wish this shit came with cookies n cream smh 💀

[@mynabirds]

I mean, i guess that's why people do it. If someone's depressed and doesn't believe in a future for themself, vaping or other drugs become a passive way out while still getting that high from it. These adds showing that vape kills you, while giving you a high before it does so, could almost be advertising these drugs directly to those people. But to someone who's never felt that way, these ads look like they're doing a good thing by showing how the cons (subjectively) outweigh the pros. So many people in the comment section say these ads are what make them want to go back to drugs after they are trying to quit, it's insane.

[@junohawthorne7658]

I thought the same thing and then i saw a truth ad that said “it’s not just a GIVES YOU DEPRESSION stick, it makes it worse.” Like ok thanks for clarifying truth initiative (not word for word)

[@lovestumacher]

I was just about to comment something similar! I have severe anxiety and depression, and every time I got one of those ads it made me laugh

[@J_Diz]

Yeah but it makes you even more depressed

[@chainzzzz456]

As someone trying to quit vaping for the second time yeah these psa’s have been making it harder to quit for me. Every time I get these ads I get cravings. The only modern one that sorta works was the one about how tobacco companies target marginalized communities. Today is my 11th day without smoking I know I’m not finished yet but I’m getting there. I’m going to stay vape free.

[@primalseraphim]

good luck!! and congrats

[@aldene.9413]

I had the same experience when quitting. Good luck, you’ve got this!

[@abigailbargdill3257]

Hey, Today marks week two for me of being smoke/vape free. We've got this! I totally relate to you on these ads actually being more triggering for cravings

[@foxgender]

i believe in you!!! it will be difficult, but you can do it :)

[@efronberlian]

you can do it. 3-4 weeks and it starts to get easier. Keep it up man!

[@sewscience]

"YoU wOuDn'T dOwNlOaD a CaR!" I absolutely f-ing would download a car. Got anything other cool stuff on there?

[@adhamwashere5320]

What if I downloaded it legally?

[@Lyncin]

@@adhamwashere5320 whom cares!! i downloaded the latest honda civic on fitgirl repacks, shit was FIRE

[@Jcktmn]

Game Mods

[@Tieigo0]

@someordinarygamers would download, so do I.

[@djmips]

We all would

[@foolsupright8512]

as someone who used to vape, those ads were my worst enemy when I was trying to quit, and even now the addicted animal part of my brain is clawing at the walls seeing those campaigns

[@Morrislover.they.xem.]

Cg on quitting!!

[@henryjost3807]

How did you quit?

[@dannydanny2789]

They're targeted at people that didn't start, nicotine addicted people are a lost cause anyway. Saying this as a smoker of 14-16 years, can't remember exactly how long ago I started at this point.

[@thaigo972]

​@@henryjost3807What worked for me was ditching the disposables, switching to 3-6 mg/ml freebase for a few months then using nicotine patches (started with the 7 mg ones, about as much as I was vaping daily). Can't quit the patches too quickly, though. They're there to stop the chemical withdrawals so you can focus on ditching the learned behaviours associated with smoking. The recommended duration of the patch treatment is about two and a half months, which is way too short for that imo. All in all, it was honestly way easier than I thought. The disposable vapes contain ridiculous concentrations of nicotine; once you're clear of them it becomes much easier.

[@Clickwrap]

@@dannydanny2789how so? I used to vape for 6 years. I just quit and I’m a month clean. Wym lost cause.

[@SamChaneyProductions]

Whenever anyone says "That's METAL!" my brain always says "IN YOUR LUNGS!"

[@CorrectFossa]

I’m convinced that ad was sponsored by KZbin to get everyone to subscribe to KZbin premium and never see it again

[@gj5748]

SAME

[@SamChaneyProductions]

@@CorrectFossa It convinced me to install adblock for KZbin

[@milenacosta8299]

AHSGSGSHB same

[@jeffbrownstain]

Punk rock tried. New wave tried. Grunge tried. Hahaha. They failed, as they were stricken to the ground.

[@sasha.mp44]

i think something that might actually for to help people stop vaping is showing how much money these tobacco companies are getting off OUR addictions. like you said, teens love to rebel

[@imnottellingyoumyname411]

As a teenager (15 in December), my angsty desire to rebel is probably a huge reason I don't vape. Seeing all of the 'popular' kids (who I want to be nothing like) and about two thirds of the people in my school vape just makes me look down on vaping more, in an 'I'm not like other girls' kind of way. It also just looks stupid, and since we don't know the long-term effects it might as well just be smoking in a different font

[@PrincessNinja007]

Yeah if there's anything we've learned from *waves as the general state of things*, you can make anyone do anything by making a "they" that's trying to control your life. Don't smoke- that's what THEY want you to do!!!

[@Glorp67]

@@imnottellingyoumyname411Ong bro, got called a pussy by the popular kid for not vaping. Im going to make sure to piss on there grave when they die of lung cancer in 15 years

[@Charles.Foster.Offdensen]

tobacco companies dont though. this isn't about them

[@violetdusk1968]

The states make more money from taxes on nicotine than the tobacco companies do.

[@shout4371]

Here's a good rule of thumb for whether an anti-vaping or anti-drug ad is effective: If the ad was in a language you couldn't understand, would you still understand the message?

[@rosalindcormier4384]

That’s actually a really good point. Visual language is everything.

[@KatNips]

The depression stick psa in a language I don't understand sounds like the ultimate shitpost I would share mindlessly.

[@wanderfilho5443]

@@KatNipsMmmmmm Palito del depresión

[@ThugOG30VIPs3rd-T]

Hmmm. Actually a good question to determine such effectiveness 👌

[@SuperFlamethrower]

Maybe there will be an AI tool that can do this (analyze the audio track and scramble the speech into nonsense). They use lorem ipsum in the publishing industry.

[@DanielleWulf]

I remember getting lectured by a cop about saying no to drugs. He had like a box of samples of drugs I hadn't even heard of. Spent most of that 4th grade class wondering how the school allowed him to get that box in and why he was allowed to have samples to bring around

[@rawrrrer]

Those are probably just replicas, styrofoam, or salt.

[@hamburger7243]

Did he actually give them out or were they just there?

[@Trumpdobealoser]

@@rawrrrerthey are

[@adoe2305]

​@@rawrrreror a fake story

[@enflamedhuevos]

Lmao that’s like in South Park when Mr Mackey brought weed to school to persuade the kids not to use it then it got stolen

[@eve5226]

Fr though because when I was trying to quit nicotine (almost 3 years clean) I kept getting those "anti-vaping" ads, which only made it ten times more difficult. Calling a juul a "depression stick" just sounds like a joke someone would make. Also, it would have texts popping up on screen (it's formed in a way to mimic instant messenger), such as, "You're all alone," or "time for nicotine". What's even more interesting is that the longer I've been clean from nicotine, the less anti-vaping ads I get, almost as if they're targeting people who are quitting. Not once did I get those ads when I was actually smoking, only when I was trying to quit.

[@dilfluvr_]

that is quite literally happening to me right now. i quit this week and suddenly every ad I get is antj-vape ads. I definitely would get them on occasion before but it’s crazy now

[@matthewW97]

That's crazy I only got those ads when I was quitting. Super triggering and made me want to crack. Now that I've been off for a while, I haven't see any.

[@matthewW97]

@@dilfluvr_ stay strong

[@alexodom3288]

i hadn't realized that since i quit 2 months ago but you're right i haven't seen as many ads

[@dilfluvr_]

@@matthewW97 thanks homie :’) it’s been tough but i’m 10 days free of nic and i feel so good!! to anyone looking to quit, the cravings initially suck so fucking bad but they truly do ease down with time. we got this :D

[@Mu-vm4ij]

For me as a black woman the most effective “anti smoking” “lecture” was my teacher explaining the history of how drugs were used purposely to harm the black community, knowing my family lived through that. Learning the government would publicly speak out against drugs while selling it in my family’s neighborhoods with the goal of killing them. He never paired it with “never do drugs” but to educate us on the dangers and historical use of unregulated drug use. And what can happen as a result of poor education on these sorts of things. I remember being so mad. I remember how he told us about the history of black men being murdered and their privates being made into cigars. I was disgusted and a few kids made efforts to quit after. It was a raw and personal conversation. Less of a lecture and more of a conversation.

[@starlightkid49]

I DIDNT KNOW ABOUT THE CIGAR THING??

[@fatimacoulibaly1857]

​@starlightkid49 ❤\w

[@Eliamaniac]

Reagan's war on drugs was such an effective way to stop his main electoral opposition from voting

[@wizardthecat9808]

The American gov has been hypocritical about drugs since the anti drug movements started. It’s honestly gross to see them portray themselves as concerned heroes and leaders when in the background they are getting away with crimes that would make any decent person sick.

[@samsparks151]

My history teacher talked about this an emphasized Biden’s roll in it that has been largely swept under the rug. Had no idea about the cigar thing that’s so messed up but not surprising. Models use foreskin to stay young apparently 💀 not sure what’s that all about

[@anotora9362]

These ads say fewer bad things about vaping than pharmaceutical ads which are required to list their side effects

[@lays5277]

It's almost like fearmongering will never be as effective or efficient as the truth

[@quinintheclouds]

oh god you're right

[@nickolias7292]

the most effective anti-vaping ad i've ever seen was a tiktok about "your friend who vapes" and it was just a guy who was killing the vibe with his "not an addiction"

[@DavidJamesHenry]

I'm a substitute teacher and just this week I was teaching a health module about first aid and they discussed illegal drugs. I'm sad to report that "Just Say No" is alive and well in California classrooms. They gave absolutely nonsense advice to my students and I felt so disgusted reading it to them.

[@arthurjohnson7473]

Did you let them know it was nonsense advice? Like when the math teacher goes, "Yeah, this particular subject actually WON'T help you in the day-to-day."

[@mertenshire2202]

Substitute teacher as well! Sometimes the worst part of being a sub is having to teach the kids the nonsense put together by the regular teacher and/or school administration. Like abstinence only or just say no 🤮🤮🤮

[@DavidJamesHenry]

@@mertenshire2202 I also taught them about risk management so hopefully the nonsense is tempered by my actually sound advice

[@Bobzilla206]

It would be best to show them junkies in the inner cities slouched over with their ass sticking in the air shitting their pants. Or tell them to go to an NA AA etc. meeting.

[@DavidJamesHenry]

@@Bobzilla206 that genuinely doesn't help anyone. It's just more scaremongering.

[@samiamrg7]

One of the only “Truth” ads that has stuck with me (granted, I am not the kind that smokes and never intend to) was one talking about second-hand smoke being harmful to pets. Don’t see that one around these days.

[@DefiantSpurr]

The veterinary professions are so demonised now that it's just not good optics for organisations to repeat messages that they use. 😢

[@starkiller1289]

I recall the second hand smoke ad from the smoker who acknowledged they knew the health risks they were taking from smoking but didn't know their spouse was also effected who died from it via complications.

[@anname7373]

I'm also not the kind to smoke and I also never plan to, but I DO know one that stuck with me was that one from Truth that said big tabacco puts more smoke shops/ads in marginalized communities. I also haven't seen this one around a lot anymore

[@TheGreatK0rnholio]

That one actually stuck with me even tho I occasionally vape, I do my best to make sure anyone else (including my pets) gets exposed to it as little as possible. I always say if you're gonna vape or smoke, do it responsibly

[@dailyllamapics9566]

A former addict, not much older than most of us, gave a speech about his addiction at a youth conference for middle to high schoolers I went to. The thing he talked about most wasn’t how bad it felt to be addicted, it was his regrets from getting high instead taking care of his little sister when there was no one else to. It was definitely more effective than an adult telling us not to do drugs.

[@joshuagharis9017]

Amen, I should share some stories as a recovering addict, 5 years clean

[@eponymouselias]

I think another problem specifically with the “depression stick” and “breath of stress air” PSAs is that they’re clearly meant to be parodies of adds for vapes except… I’ve never actually SEEN an add for a vape. Like I’m sure they exist, but these “parodies” are so much more common that they functionally just BECOME the thing they’re trying to parody

[@louloudaki_]

i will literally never get over “MMmmMMMmMm, deprEssiOn sTiCk” and how that sounds like a surreal meme instead of a psa and “if yOu liKe dEprEssiOn, you’ll LOVE anXiEtY” literally just sounds like a meme that would constantly circulate mental health humor forums

[@V0IDFANGZ]

IT KINDA HAS MY FIRST IMPRESSION ON IT WAS SOMEONE ON TIKTOK/INSTA REELS SAYING THEY FOUND IT AND IT HAD THEM CACKLING

[@Una_Mona]

It really is a 'XD funny, im 14 and this is deep' type of wording

[@deepseabunnies]

It's very Omega Mart

[@HumanzSuck]

I have anxiety but not depression, what does that mean for me….

[@Dr.Freeman...]

@@deepseabunniesjust like omega mart, *you have no idea whats in store for you* ...

[@ladymoe5395]

i think an extremely effective bit of anti vaping messaging would be how disgustingly wasteful it is. seeing tiktoks or other videos of teens with storage tubs, desks, cabinets all full of empty disposable vapes upset me so much it really helped me to quit

[@-originalLemon-]

I didn't need to quit vaping because I never vaped. #sonicthehedgehog

[@purpleheart3431]

YES!!! Showing just how wasteful it is, especially to our more environmentally conscious people, seems way more effective.

[@KOTYAR1]

Desks full of them are better than parks and streets littered with them. Seeing them in trash cans makes my blood boil, it's unhealthy

[@rustyshackleford4117]

Right up there with getting people to stop drinking soda and water from plastic bottles, using plastic silverware and straws, and getting takeout in styrofoam. Good luck with that. Better idea, would actually be to ban disposables, and enforce the refillable vapes of old -- at least those don't result in the massive waste of plastic and lithium ion batteries.

[@sammygecko_]

⁠@@-originalLemon- I can’t even begin to explain to you why having a sonic profile and username would make this the best thing ever It made me smile so much that I am saddened by the missed potential

[@charmingowloflavenderism]

These PSAs confused me so much I thought they literally made anti-depressants in the form of a vape. I literally looked it up because I could not believe it.

[@TIGERTHATROARS]

Yeah the messages from those ads came off confusing. Like they were offering a new depression medication instead of advertising the dangers of vaping lol

[@mmmicrowave]

the first time i saw one i thought it was a shitpost... i was very confused to see that it was an actual ad

[@beanthebean4409]

Mine is actually a “The real cost” add. I was young and surfing the internet when a pop add appeared of hands holding a red velvet box. The box opened and inside was a very convincing set of rotting human teeth… I will never forget it

[@sasha-is-eepy]

yeah, ive seen that one. it terrified me as a kid

[@FectoForgoGaming]

I mean, that ad at least was effective in deterring me. The metal monster, meanwhile, is not particularly scary, it just looks like a cool video game boss. Maybe some rejected concept for a Monster Hunter boss fight, like something halfway between Tigrex and Nergigante, with a bunch of metal slapped on top of it.

[@DogVill-inc]

As someone who is very addicted (I’m tryna quit lol) they need to start making adds like they did for smoking like make it scary, show how gross and scary it is. Like here’s a couple personal stories, my old hs friend got a hole in his throat from vaping so much. and currently my teeth are so yellow not even a dental cleaning got all the staining out. and my breath stinks from all the mucus stuck in my throat, no amount of gum or toothpaste makes it better. so if u don’t want essentially permanently stank ass breath and a hole in ur throat don’t vape 👍 P.S turns out I had 3 cavities, I floss n brush regularly so I might need a new tooth from vaping 💀

[@AxeWaffle]

Thanks for sharing your story. This is 10 times more effective and insightful than modern anti-nicotine ads and PSAs. I wish you the best

[@wren_.]

I’m not sure if this is wanted or not, but a trick I saw people use to stop vaping is to wear a necklace with a metal rod on it. anytime you want to take a hit off the vape, bite the necklace instead. addictions are formed by patterns, especially unconscious body movements. if you have something that looks like a vape in your hand, your brain is unconsciously going to tell you to put it in your mouth. so if you break that body movement, you could break the addiction

[@violetdusk1968]

But vaping actually does none of those things. Tobacco sure does. I know because I have done both.

[@whatshouldyoucallme]

@@wren_. dude im subscribed to you on another account and i randomly found you here, idk where i saw you but goddamn i gotta stop subscribing to random channels for no reason

[@obee7423]

Vaping does. @@violetdusk1968

[@AvsJoe]

Reminds me of the disastrous "Talk. They'll Listen." campaign. It was an anti-smoking ad campaign from 1999 aimed at parents of teens that was so ineffective that teens who watched the ad were 30% MORE likely to pick up smoking PER AD THEY VIEWED. The ad campaign was ordered by the government to be funded by tobacco companies but crucially they allowed the tobacco companies full creative control of the ad. That disaster ultimately led to tobacco companies supposedly no longer having direct control over anti-smoking ad campaigns, though as this video highlights, Big Tobacco still found a way.

[@N8Dulcimer]

As a kid, everywhere I went I'd see adults smoking, and they would always warn me "never start smoking." and from the tone it was so clear that they felt trapped. Seeing adults all around me tell me flat out that they don't want to smoke cigarettes as they pull one out and light it was seriously terrifying. I learned early on that if you smoke a cigarette you are giving up control over your life that you might NEVER get back and that kept me from ever trying one. Even now as an adult, I've dabbled in nicotine with cigars and shisha but I don't ever keep it around because I have no interest in letting it turn to a habit and then an addiction.

[@LameMule]

I remember that. Turned out 5 years later I started smoking and 5 years after that I was at a pack a day.

[@kosakukawajiri8331]

honestly, seeing truth ads everywhere and how terribly annoying they're presented, i wonder if anyone started smoking/vaping specifically in spite of them..

[@judeblack4360]

For every 4 ads you watch, you instantly gain a random addiction

[@bigbowlofspaghetti]

I was so confused as a kid while learning from DARE cuz I didn’t even know what the fuck a drug was until DARE strolled into my kindergarten class. And you know what happens when you expose children to something they know nothing about? They get curious. I knew kids who were trying to get their parent’s medication after the DARE program “just to try it cuz it sounded cool” YIKESSSS DUDEEE.

[@user-uo8ny1kj4c]

honestly, the reagan and nixon administration ruined communities by pushing hard drugs in black communities.

[@PrincessNinja007]

DARE is the story of a bunch of scientists writing out a comprehensive plan and it being dropped straight into the shredder so cops could get more funding

[@sallygirl1012]

It’s in the name "dare" to do drugs 😢

[@twotruckslyrics]

the ad that always worked on me and not the stupid metal monster ad was the one where a kid steals money from his mom during the morning and his lil brother looks at him sad and 😭 i dont know man that just hurts

[@kwasiahenkora6583]

@@sallygirl1012LMAO 😂

[@taneaydornay770]

The only anti-vaping ad that worked for me was the one where the kid is vaping in the school bathroom and drops her vape in the toilet, then very reluctantly takes it out, dries it off, then hits it again, and then it just ends. Great anti-vaping ad.

[@loganmedia1142]

Sounds unrealistic. The sort of advert we'd have laughed at.

[@shaeby8123]

@@loganmedia1142 I don't know, I've seen people go damn near insane for a hit

[@thatcursedsibling29]

@@loganmedia1142no people def do that and have dropped their vapes in worse places just to hit again

[@ninamykh]

@@loganmedia1142 as a recent high school grad i've known people who admitted to doing this

[@lyricscroll7680]

@@loganmedia1142unfortunately i have done this T_T

[@flervest3407]

The most effective anti-smoking ads I saw when I was a kid in the early 2000s, were the ones that showed the rotten teeth, and the tar cover lungs. Those images stick with you a lot more than some just telling you it’s bad

[@N8Dulcimer]

In Fiji, the packs have images of diseased heart and lung tissue. Some even have stillborn fetuses on them.

[@digitalcthulhu143]

​@@N8Dulcimermetal af

[@virginiarogers9391]

@@N8Dulcimer i saw those in montreal, canada too

[@TheSkaOreo]

There’s one I remember: a bunch of kids living in a trailer. Everything is a mess; some kid is making eggs on a dirty pan. But the moment one of them pulls out a cigi, cut to the rest of the kids going “ew”

[@crackedcocainer]

@@digitalcthulhu143 that IS metal! [in your lungs!]

[@forresttfoxx]

My sister and I would cut cigarettes in half and shove them back into the box hoping that our mom would stop smoking. My mom started smoking in high school when she was 16. She’s lost teeth, she missed out at events because she needs smoke breaks, and you can smell smoke seeping out of her pores- she looks older than she is. My sister started vaping at 14, she’s 17 now. She said “nic hasn’t killed mom.” All her friends do it, it smells good and tastes good. Even though she has has been hospitalized from a vape, she continues to vape. My mom takes her vapes away but she always just gets more, the way my mom would always just get more cigarettes. I have lung problems from the second hand smoke I got as a kid, I can’t escape the coughing when my roommates vape in the house. I have never smoked or vaped, but I’m still suffering because of it. Save yourself and your friends, your family, from the stress and pain of nicotine.

[@aceisaperson]

I felt this. My grandma has smoked pretty much her whole life, same with my papa. Both of them have lot a lot of teeth and the ones they do have are gross and rotten. I was a pretty athletic kid, I loved running around doing whatever. But as I grew up I started developing breathing issues and was eventually diagnosed with asthma. Had to quit volleyball because I just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t breathe. I vaped for a little while in middle school but quit because it made me feel sick. Everyone knows I used to do it, everyone also knows I quit a long ass time ago. But I still get people that vape near me just because they know I won’t snitch. It’s suffocating and pisses me off. I get mad at my grandparents too. People never consider anyone around them when they smoke or vape.

[@rdz-1776]

stay strong 💪

[@ieaturanium235]

I'm so sorry... my heart goes out to you

[@svyatoyaleksnevskiy]

Out of curiosity, what was it about the vaping that led to her hospitalization?

[@thewittyusername]

You need to get different roommates 😬 these people sound like they suck

[@thejman3489]

"That's metal, in your lungs." I'm a welder. I always got a good chuckle out of that line.

[@nightcollapse]

When you're running low on materials you can just grab out of your lungs and continue working, money saving pro tip

[@theairacobra]

despite my welding experience being using a key and a metal wire to weld a few batteries together i deeply relate

[@nyssfairchild2244]

Metal? In our lungs? Of course there is, our blood contains iron!

[@camgere]

Metal in your body. No MRI for you!

[@DungeonDragon18]

The best anti-drug PSA I remember ever seeing was one where it was just a shot of a little girl dragging a float toy towards a pool, and the voice over saying "Just tell her parents you weren't watching her because you were getting high. They'll understand." It was part of a series of PSAs, but the rest were pretty normal teenage drama like missing your brother's birthday party or missing the big game, but then they brought dead toddlers into it and it's been burned into my brain for 25 years now. And for the record, no I don't smoke marijuana, even now that it's legal in my state. I don't know how connected those things are, but it's an interesting data point.

[@TheDrunkMunk]

In highschool, in Australia, we had an entire class once a week dedicated to watching anti-drug propaganda. One 'documentary' we watched was about how some guy's life supposedly fell apart after smoking weed. The iconic part I'll never forget was when he was sitting in a dark corner in an abandoned house, rocking back and forth, repeating the word 'bong' in a high pitched voice. Anyone reading this knows what happened next - for the next year, every party, every get together, whenever a bong was present, at least someone would start repeating in an annoying high pitched voice "bong! bong!"

[@cat1554]

I want to see that

[@psychosomaticstatic]

omg that sounds hilarious Tbh one of the biggest problems about the fear mongering around weed is that when kids try weed and realize it isn't bad, they ask themselves "what else were the anti-drug PSAs wrong about?". Like. We need to be real about the relative danger of each psychoactive substance.

[@Notaripoffbruh]

Any more details?

[@quinintheclouds]

@@psychosomaticstatic exactly. By categorizing weed alongside ACTUALLY harmful and dangerous substances, we're really making the hardcore stuff seem less scary. Fearmongering over marijuana was based on racism, and that's not a conspiracy -- it's been admitted on record that it was just a way to arrest more Hispanic and Black people while also increasing fear of them as "dangerous drug users." No one has ever directly died from marijuana use. Now look at the deaths from alcohol use. Ever wonder why that's the legal one? Now ya know.

[@Chekmate-em3mc]

Bong

[@redmage87]

Fun personal anecdote about the DARE program in the mid 90s: They would bring in a local "narcotics officer" to tell us all of his most harrowing drug busts to try to get us to not do drugs. Unfortunately for the cop, my grandmother was a big fan of the show Dragnet and I recognized EVERY. SINGLE. STORY. he told as literally the plot of a Dragnet episode. When I pointed this out to a teacher, she just shrugged and said "Well, maybe he was the original officer the episode was based after?" Made it really hard to trust anything else they said.

[@xIQ188x]

I once had an officer say that he found a guy who overdoesed on PCP and when they found him he was just a puddle on the ground. Like he literally told us that a guy got liquified.

[@from_no_where]

@Antonio-Gransci this is a hilariously stupid comment, holy shit lol. How tf would you misinterpret the phrase "he got liquefied"?

[@xIQ188x]

@Antonio-Gransci no, he was very explicit about what he meant. He said that the drugs had “melted him down” and only a puddle was left when they got to him.

[@violet7773]

​@@xIQ188x Who would win: 1 pcp vs 206 bones

[@cactustactics]

@@xIQ188x the horror of getting melted (especially by TOXIC WASTE) was a big theme in the 90s, I can 100% see someone running with that to try and scare kids

[@cynical8330]

I tried to say no to drugs at 16. At least I had the strength to go to rehab at 21.

[@pleiades_nebula]

im so proud of you!

[@bobbycoleman-co7mc]

Good job dude

[@dorothyallspice1862]

So proud of you!!

[@tygerrrrrrr]

@@dorothyallspice1862ppp

[@Mustard529]

Rehab was supposed to be a fresh start

[@jupiter5238]

this video actually inspired me to try to quit vaping, five months later and i'm completely clean :DD

[@Sentient-potato]

great

[@batlover1977]

I’m happy for you, my brother had gotten sent to the hospital multiple times from habitual smoking complications… even if you don’t have a perfect “clean streak”, every time you choose not to vape is a victory please keep going ..

[@grunchchristmas]

awesome dude!

[@danny8284]

hell yeah, amazing job! congrats :D

[@emilyyyyyyyyyyyyys]

this is so awesome you got this :)

[@AidanXavier1]

I've had a suspicion for a while that the "that's metal" ad was designed specifically not to work, or even to get people to vape. I feel validated in that suspicion by this video.

[@CaiominTwin]

the PSA in the 2000s that showed yellow goo getting squeezed out of a smoker's bronchial tube def helped me eventually quit

[@silenceinspace.]

hey I'm sorry the WHAT

[@howdy1312]

What

[@howdy1312]

I'm trying to find the PSA you're referencing. Do you remember who produced it? Where did you see it, on TV or the internet?

[@lunabeats698]

Unironically the presence of that "yellow goo" which if im not wrong is mucus, when I coughed was something that helped me quit vaping, that an the fact that I started when I was 14 and realized that the industry got me and I didn't want to be beholden to them.

[@lastflunky]

I saw that on TV when I was 5. I can tell you it was very effective.

[@kandyjo]

I grew up with “I learned it from watching you, Dad!” and “this is your brain on drugs” and those commercials were absolute punchlines amongst my friends and me in our late 80s/early 90s teen-hood. Tough to make fun of someone’s actually-dying aunt Debi with a trachea tube….but you sure as hell can make fun of someone cracking an egg while earnestly looking into the camera and asking, with ZERO irony, “Any questions?”

[@waffleson45]

The best anti-smoking,drugs,alcohol,vape ad i ever seen was my own family in front of me over the years. Literally this week my grandmother spent $64 on a carton of cigarettes and then complains about having no money for other things. Heavy addiction blinders my family has. Scared me away from it all.

[@twotruckslyrics]

i think mine was both my grandma and grandpa being smokers, i was little and it just seemed weird and scary to me many years later, my grandpa has passed away recently due to pancreatic cancer, i am never starting

[@AthenaBaucum]

Thanks to you, I have now written an entire 5 page essay about the "that's metal" ad and used you as a jumping off point for scholarly articles (you were cited I promise)

[@skyslasher6267]

i went into this thinking "how the heck is she going to back up that claim" and after watching it im like "damn, she has a point"

[@Blockistium]

I thought I was crazy. I always thought these ads were so cringeworthy and terrible that alarms were banging around in my head, but never knew how to approach their weirdness or prove what I was feeling, kind of like with PETA ads-I'm so glad someone actively began exploring this. This needs to be talked about.

[@goober-7290]

Recovering from a vaping addiction, every time i see an anti vaping ad i get reminded that i have that gnawing at the back of my mind and then it swirls around for an hour

[@AnthonyChinaski]

Whenever I got in trouble while a teenager and my dad punished and questioned me about my actions, I always replied, “I learned it from watching you, dad!”, while frying some eggs in a pan.

[@loukitmyname]

Now That's Metal!!!

[@translarrybutz]

​@@loukitmynamein your lungs!!

[@Tkm-bi8gk]

I imagined you running to the kitchen as soon as he starts yelling at you and your father changing the subject from the original scolding to the out-of-control egg budget

[@maxrobertson2834]

My high school had a teacher who was an alcoholic come in alt talk about it. He talked about how he started, why, how great it was, then how he lost everyone he loved, everything he had and the only thing that was ever on his mind was alcohol. He said he had tried to escape it for years, and finally hit rock bottom. It was very emotional and informative. He told everyone that he will help if they start to struggle with alcohol, and he helped a friend of mine. He is a really good person and was just so honest about everything

[@joshuagharis9017]

Service is key for those of us in recovery 🙏. Truth works. Lies suck

[@joshuagharis9017]

I actually got into harder drugs because of going to black markets for weed.

[@bobdolesrevenge]

There's one 90s anti-smoking PSA that's permanently burned into my psyche because me and my siblings would quote it to each other endlessly. It was made with the worst, cheapest CGI the mid 1990s could provide and featured an anthropomorphic cube being offered a cigarette by a gorilla wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses. The gorilla tried to peer-pressure the cube by saying "What's the matter, don't you want to be cool like me, Monkey Joe?" then calling the cube a "square." A superhero character showed up and... I don't actually remember, but the ad ended by saying "It's hip to be square!," a reference to a Huey Lewis and the News single that was a decade old. I had never once heard someone be referred to as a "square" before, so the tagline was confusing and meaningless to me. To this day whenever my family is trying to persuade each other to do something, we say "What's the matter, don't you want to be cool like me, Monkey Joe?" Actually, now that I think about it, the ad could have been an anti-drug PSA. Whatever it was, it failed in its messaging but created one of my family's early proto-memes, so I guess it accomplished something.

[@olivias1212]

Im laughing

[@johnstanley3939]

Wow. Great comment and also, the term "proto-meme" is actually fantastic, and somewhat eye-opening. Now I know what to call all those weird phrases and lines that circulated in our house when I was a kid.

[@renthewerecat]

hearing real stories of the bad trips people have had have been WAY more effective at making me not want to do drugs than literally anything else in my life

[@DrRandomAccount]

The most effective anti smoking psa I saw that actually made me cry. It was with this guy on ventilators and stuff I think being treated for lung cancer. He was talking about how his daughter was supposed to visit him on Christmas and he said "I'll be alive for that" or something. A moment later text shows up on a black screen saying "He died (somewhere before Christmas).. He didn't see his daughter" It it was like a real man too which made it all the more worse 🙁

[@I_enjoy_some_things]

So you cried over a copypasta. Good job.

[@DrRandomAccount]

@@I_enjoy_some_things It's not a copypasta?? It was an actual PSA, who did you mean to say this to?

[@samueldawkins]

what do you mena "real man"

[@jamsistired]

@@samueldawkinsit wasn’t a story made by a writer it was a real case of a man dying before Christmas not a character

[@samueldawkins]

@@jamsistired ah I see

[@Fimpurities]

Every time I see an anti vaping ad, I immediately hit my vape and laugh, but seeing the original cancer anti-smoking ad, it actually made me think twice. I think that says enough honestly

[@Charles.Foster.Offdensen]

it's propaganda

[@Jerry-cg9ni]

"YOU WILL HAVE HEALTHY FUNCTIONAL LUNGS"@@Charles.Foster.Offdensen

[@Andyatl2002]

@@Charles.Foster.Offdensen, why is it propaganda, do you know what the definition of propaganda is

[@tyegordon]

Yeah I haven’t vaped in like 10 days now and I’m still getting anti vaping ads but they ALWAYS just make me want to vape.

[@nevaehonrefni]

​@@Charles.Foster.Offdensenhow is showing what smoking can do propaganda. Do you know the definition??? You have a fallout art styled Trump. You should know what actual propaganda is from that video game alone-

[@Residentevil1.5]

Every time I see an anti-vaping ad, I get the urge to hit my vape. Multiple friends have said the same. I used to have a pretty severe binge drinking problem, and seeing ads like this about drinking is almost unthinkable. A sexy, enticing voice talking about tasty cinnamon flavored drinks, telling me if I like anxiety, I’ll love depression? That’s beyond unserious. I got alcohol poisoning while with friends one night, pissed myself, had two seizures, and probably would’ve died if they hadn’t taken me to the ER. If it might kill me, tell me it might kill me and give me a reason to care about myself and the future. Don’t show me a cool CGI dinosaur.

[@DownTrodded]

Same with my sister she’s suicidal show her a don’t off yourself ad and shes like maybe I will yea that does sound like a good idea and then gets an anxiety attack and shuts down like a stoner with the munchies.

[@scream_kinh614]

Same. All it did was make me want to vape more and the vaping as a hobby turned into vaping ad an addiction lol

[@olfrud]

@@scream_kinh614just out of curiosity, how can vaping be a hobby? what’s the appeal there?

[@scream_kinh614]

@olfrud I think I began doing it as kind of a stim? For context, I've got adhd and autism and an oral fixation. I'd call it a hobby as i could go months without it and not think about it, I'd only take a couple puffs throughout the day and I wouldn't calculate how to get the most put of every vape, and I didn't count down the minutes till I could vape next. It was just something I did with my friends or when I wanted to do something orally. But as time went on it got to be a dependency

[@DownTrodded]

@@scream_kinh614 That’s addiction the first part was to it was never a hobby you were just more mentally strong aka better at fighting off the need making it seem that it wasn’t what it was. Most addicts start out this way they don’t fully need it and sorta do it as a hobby from time to time it takes a while for it to take hold of your brain chemistry and dopamine receptors.

[@rejala5840]

"Don't think of an elephant!" ~Elephant Thoughts Prevention Initiative

[@twotruckslyrics]

literally

[@TV-8-301]

"If you like anxiety, you'll LOVE depression!" is the funniest gdamn thing I've heard all day. I think if they actually sold a flavor of vape called "sadness" it would sell out.

[@sourgreendolly7685]

Now I'm just picturing how popular that would've been with emo kids back in that day. I'm saying that as one of them. Wow I'm old. help😂

[@manic_girl]

“Mmmmm… depression stick!” Is now a permanent ear worm in my brain

[@InvisibleRen]

Right. So many young people going, “Well I’m depressed already, so this totally matches my aesthetic.”

[@NyanCatHerder]

Yeah...the problem with using irony to convince people not to vape is the fact that people *like* irony. These ads are enjoyable, fun, and clever, which doesn't make vaping seem undesirable regardless of what they're saying. Given that the long term health effects of vaping aren't established to the extent of consensus among experts, it would probably be difficult to develop PSAs as effective as the better anti-tobbaco ads without being sued. Still, there are better options than gaudy, flashy special effects and ironic jokes.

[@gelatinous6915]

High Schoolers: "I vape because of the nicotine content. I enjoy the sensation nicotine produces, and I am fully aware of the fact that I'm addicted." Vaping PSAs: "Did you KNOW that VAPING can deliver ADDICTIVE NICOTINE into your LUNGS?!"

[@ProfessionalBugLover]

“OMGG” *WAVES COLORFUL FRUITY STICK IN UR FACE* “DEFINITELY NOT SMOKE IT OMGGG” *SMOKES IT*

[@BlackxExorcistitsyaboi]

I started vaping in highschool because I wanted nicotine without cigarettes. It calmed me down. PSAs telling me what I already know wouldnt stop me

[@hotsexyangel]

Well yea, most kids know it’s addictive but they don’t think it could actually harm them so they keep doing it🤦🏼‍♀️ it’s just dumb

[@cochiseseals]

@@BlackxExorcistitsyaboi Okay. But what about the fact you’ll end up with throat cancer if you don’t stop soon?

[@cochiseseals]

@@BlackxExorcistitsyaboi After all, it does deliver the equivalent to like 1 or 17 packages of cigs. So, it’s only a matter of time. But I’d hope you stop before it gets to that. Besides, I’ve already seen someone post about how they have to use some tube through their throat or something. But it’s pretty gross. Plus the other stuff. But it’s whatever. To each it’s own.

[@Augustowind809]

I've never smoked or vaped cuz I have asthma so I can't, but the one PSA that freaked me out was the teeth pulling PSA. A guy was at a gas station, ordered a box of cigs, and then grabbed a pair of pliers and pulled out a tooth to pay for the box. The noise was HORRIFIC. They followed that with some kind of fact how smoking makes you lose your teeth. EUGH I don't get grossed out easy but the teeth pulling got me

[@kaylee1219]

that unlocked a memory for me

[@Augustowind809]

For anyone curious, it's The Real Cost - Your Teeth on KZbin. Went back and watched it and it's not as terrible as I remembered but still bad

[@waltawite]

those are the worst and were absolutely effective with cigarettes (at least to me)! The one I also remember is the young lady that gave some of her face skin for a box of cigs. I wish the same could be done with vapes; show the raw, terrible side of vaping.

[@October-TE]

I genuinely can't count how many times I've seen that metal in your lungs ad

[@thejungwookim]

As a person who's vowed to never vape, every one of those TRUTH ads make me want to vape just to antagonize the ineffectiveness of their programs. Thank you for validating this thought that I had for several years.

[@Lucky_Gurl-Luna]

😂 honestly they tricked us into vaping more 😖

[@vbrown6445]

Watching this video prompted me to remember a PSA anti-smoking ad targeting the Black community from my childhood (90s) in California. The ad was basically a rap video, drawing the line between the tobacco our enslaved ancestors were forced to cultivate and the cigarettes the greedy corporations were pushing on our community to ruin our health and kill us ("we used to pick it, now they want us to smoke it"). It was an extraordinarily successful ad in CA, and I know for me the song has stuck in my head all these decades later. I had to look up the video and of course found it here on YT: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aX28lot9bM5kqa8

[@MaggieMaeFish]

!!!

[@Viteaification]

omg?????

[@rachelhansen2417]

That’s actually genius.

[@caseyw.6550]

Ok that was fucking rad.

[@nailinthefashion]

They kinda cooked a meal with that one tho

[@Veecy]

The PSA burned into the back of my brain is Mario telling the viewer that if you do drugs, you'll go to hell before you die

[@damian9303]

That’s Captain Lou

[@jerrymajors8132]

​@@damian9303aka Mario from the live action segments of the Super Mario Brothers Super Show

[@coltonpatterson5409]

Then he gives one final, earnest "Please."

[@RockandrollNegro]

Which is funny in retrospect, knowing that Captain Lou was quite fond of cocaine and qualudes.

[@TheManWithTheFlan]

@@RockandrollNegro I mean, I guess that meant he had firsthand knowledge?

[@enzoeijsermans4161]

In the Netherlands we had an ad recently where a popular artist portrayed big tabacco, singing in a child labor factory about how he profits off your health. It wasn't perfect, but I'm sure it was more effective than what is apparently going on in the US...

[@thesalvager3020]

I was bombarded a few years back by those anti vape ads that tried to be, as they say, "hip with the kids". They were so ungodly cringe inducing that I was tempted to start vaping just to spite them.

[@Spaghet-bn3kb]

There’s a South Park episode about just that, except with cigarettes rather than vapes lol

[@Paradox_Incognito]

I live to spite as well lol

[@hplaptoplover]

that’s what they want you to do fr

[@nootnoot7396]

I’m super passionate about this subject as someone who used vaping as a tool to quit smoking cigarettes. I think this video was great, but there’s a layer to it that I think makes it more interesting. Vaping as an industry came up largely against big tobacco. It was all small companies creating products designed to help people quit smoking in a largely self regulating industry. Big tobacco didn’t play a part in it and were losing money because of it. This was when the truth campaign first started making awful anti vaping ads. These ads did not make vaping look appealing at all, but worked to ruin the public image of vaping as a genuine tool to quit smoking cigarettes at a time when big tobacco made all their money from cigarettes and other tobacco products. Some time later, big tobacco started creating their own vaping products, while at the same time lobbying the FDA to create far harsher rules about vape products, making it extremely difficult for a smaller company to release a product to market simply because it became a very cost intensive endeavor to get approval for every individual product you wanted to sell. Remember outside of big tobacco, all vape companies were small companies. Now we are in a landscape where big tobacco has effectively forced most competing vape companies out of the industry, and it’s only now that big tobacco has a strong grip on the market that these anti vaping ads are being made specifically to have the adverse effect of making vaping look enticing to consumers. They used their financial power within the government to take a market designed to damage them, and instead take over the market and grow into an ever stronger untouchable Goliath against public health

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Thanks for the info! Yeah I wanted to go more into this but was strapped for time, the podcast I recommend at the end I think is a great supplement and goes over the history or Juul/vaping. XOXO !!!

[@nootnoot7396]

@@MaggieMaeFish totally understandable! This could easily have ballooned into a massive video if you didn’t pick and choose what to cover. I’m super happy to see it being covered at all. Smoking has a strangle hold on my entire family and it’s disgusting how wrapped up in our government big tobacco is. What inspired you to cover the topic?

[@Phoenix2312]

@nootnoot7396 I can add something to that my friend... It has also given rise to the Old Scams finding new life! I have taken up vaping to quit smoking as well... And of course our Phones listen to us and my Facebook suddenly started showing me adverts for a new "Anti Vaping Tool" called the Breathlace... Its a Small Pendent with a Tube that replaces your vape! Clinically Proven,,, Yadayadayada... Trouble is, At 50 years old... I remember this when it first appeared as a Stop Smoking Tool... And its just a Piece of Metal Pipe on a chain that costs upwards of $50 or more for NOTHING! It is just a Placebo! It does NOTHING! And it is being pumped out left right and centre now... I do think Vaping needs proper regulation even here in the UK... But people need to watch out - AntiVaping Scams are also on teh rise!!! Where there is Fear, There is a way to make money!

[@bookbook9495]

@@MaggieMaeFishpart 2 on the way? I’ve always been curious about this, and no one ever covers this on our end of the political spectrum

[@punchingmonsters9846]

Thanks for this comment. I was working on something similar but yours was far more articulate. I actually work at the vape shop that originally helped get me off smoking and we're now legally prevented from even saying it's any kind of harm reduction alternative to cigarettes. Meanwhile our biggest competition is a huge tobacco chain that actively sells to minors and just eats the fines.

[@mr.pavone9719]

We had an anti-drug week when I was in 5th grade. In the week before they set out displays with samples of different drugs with their common street names. On friday a police officer came and did his presentation. I asked a bunch of questions, specifically asking about the stuff they put in the display and I used all the slang. The cop was visibly surprised but he rolled on with his little pitch. My mom asked me about it when she got home from work and I thought it was all kinda funny that the cop didn't know what they put out before he got there. Turns out my mom got a call from the cops about my "intimate knowledge of hard drugs" and his concern for me. He even grilled her about what might be going on at home. LOL.

[@cyexe]

I did this in health in middle school teacher was like "anyone know what this is?" I'm like "sir, that's a blunt"

[@AnimatorBlake]

"Here are the many names and descriptions of food you can order at Mexican restaurants. Now. DON'T GO TO A MEXICAN RESTAURANT AND ORDER WHAT LOOKS GOOD."

[@imacds]

im an A student, there's no way i aint learning all of the drugs if its on the test.

[@cybercop0083]

Did you call it SMACK? I love the word SMACK. I would cause irreparable damage to my mind and dental hygene for SMACK!!!

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@imacds lmao right? I believe some studies say these programs actually got way more kids to try drugs in college than otherwise would've.

[@FallenWhisper32]

My school had a police officer get brought in and told a vivid story about how he found his brother dead in an ally, eye bulging out from laying on the concrete over night (I am toning it down a bit.) I think some just got very concerned about taking *any* drugs, legal or not.