I was sent some information today about tobacco advertising on You Tube along with an article calling for greater control – either through self-regulation or legislation. It’s this type of thing that the article is getting at:
I’m not sure that more regulation is what is needed. In fact I’m not sure this stuff encourages smoking. If you look at the comments (the ones in English anyway) there is a strong anti-smoking sentiment amongst those who have seen the clip.
In traditional advertising, communication runs along a one way street. Material on You Tube and other new media is open to the kind of commentary and debate we see here on Red Alert. If the tobacco companies are silly enough to use You Tube to advertise then they open themselves up to attack they don’t need.
And, of course the same medium is available to tobbacco’s opponents. I quite like this one:
I don’t mind tobacco advertising on youtube. Most people know the dangers, if they take it up anyway then they are munters.
http://theretroblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/reagancigarette3.jpg
So funny: “Smoking isn’t hazardous, it’s FUN, delicious and cool”, thanks Reagan!
Yeah, I don’t think old tobacco ad’s on the net really advocate smoking, like Spud says everyone in the developed world knows the dangers of smoking.
Saw something about this on the news earlier. I agree, I can’t see how the ads on Youtube encourage smoking hugely. If we were talking about cigarette ads that pop up like those really annoying “Join us and in two weeks you’ll be ripped!” ads (when it’s fairly obvious that the guy already has the abs he’s showing off) then I could understand the fuss, but I doubt videos that one has to search up themselves will affect smoking rates. Most people who know how to drive a search engine know how stupid smoking is.
This might be a side effect of Youtube’s new “Partnership Arrangement” where users pages can earn ad income with Youtube taking a small cut…
Need a smoke after reading this blog..
More Brain wash
Can people explain to me how tobacco advertising and alcohol advertising dont contribute to people drinking and smoking?
Are you saying those industries spend billions on advertising each year just for brand identification and no attempts, subliminally or otherwise to encourage people to smoke or drink?