It's a trap!
The newest ad from the Truth anti-smoking campaign, set to premiere Sunday night during MTV's Video Music Awards, uses the famous meme to warn youth of the dangers of even casual smoking and smoking non-cigarette tobacco products.
And while the commercial doesn't include Admiral Ackbar from "Star Wars," it does have a puking unicorn:
American Legacy Foundation, which runs the Truth campaign, says one in four youth believe that social smoking -- or so-called "light" smoking -- poses no risk.
"Teens want to believe that social smoking is a casual, harmless activity, but very simply: It's a Trap," Robin Koval, head of the foundation behind the campaign, said in a news release. "Our new ad uses pop-culture memes to make the point that no matter what type of tobacco and no matter the frequency, smoking is smoking, and it comes with serious and life-limiting health consequences."
Along with the unicorn, the ad also features popular YouTubers and social media figures like Rachel Levin, Ryan Higa, Christian DelGrosso, Jerry Purpdrank... and this little guy:
The new ad is part of the "Finish It" campaign aimed at getting youngsters to end tobacco use. It goes beyond cigarettes, and touches on other increasingly popular tobacco products such as little flavored cigars and hookahs.
Legacy says a one-hour hookah session can be like smoking up to five packs of cigarettes -- and that both the little cigars and hookahs contain nicotine, tar, carcinogens and heavy metals.
“Tobacco products are the ultimate trap,” Eric Asche, the foundation's chief marketing officer, said in a news release. “Using the social language on the internet to explain the social behavior of smoking makes it hyper-relevant to youth allowing them to feel like we are talking with them in their vernacular.”
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