Cops Shot Far Rockaway Teen 11 Times
Video: New School Students, Comrades Toss Trash Pre-Arrest
Prosecutor: D Train Murderer Was Unprovoked
Schumer: "Real Momentum" For Health Care Reform Now
NYC Wants Death Penalty In Terror Trials, Germany Doesn't
The Department of Health is rolling out a "two-pronged effort" to encourage New Yorkers to stop smoking. Prong one: Between now and May 15, smokers can get nicotine patches and/or nicotine gum for free by calling 311. Prong two: A new ad campaign with Ronaldo Martinez, who lost his larynx due to throat cancer.
You may not have been able to forget previous ads with Martinez, where he speaks through his throat. Now, along with TV and print ads, there's an Internet advertising component where you can email an audio message in Martinez's voice to smokers in your life to get them to quit. Really - check it out here.
Do the ads scare you into quitting smoking? NY1 found that the ads made at least one New Yorker uncomfortable: "It's difficult to watch. I've seen the old ones and I know personally, I just change the channel." You can watch all the ads here and here's how you can learn about smoking cessation programs from city hospitals.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
I finally started taking Chantix. Three days w/o cigarettes. So far, so good. I hate it when I see folks talking out of those machines. I don't want that to happen to me.
Ronaldo Martinez is the best. It's awesome he is sharing his story.
why do we still sell cigarettes? Because it will impinge on our freedoms? its rediculous. think about how everyone has to foot the bill for the medical costs of smoking, all for a habit that has no known benefit.
And scaring the shit out of people into quiting is not going to work either. A campaign explaining how much healthier and active you will feel once you quit would go a longer way.
I have to disagree Gonzo. Up on 104th or 105th and Broadway, there is this billboard of a coffin and the copy, "Cigarettes can kill you", or something of that sort.
Normally, such ads wouldn't affect me, but since I kept seeing it everyday on my way to work, it made me think about it during that long train ride.
Now, I haven't smoked in 4 months...
How many people are going to get hooked on Pfizer or GlaxoSmithKline nicotine after this giveaway? Or worse, how many are going to switch back to cigarettes after the gums and the patches don't work? Quit cold turkey - it's free and it works...
If you haven't seen the TV ad - or are even familiar with his voice enhancer - this ad is just simply weak.
As a former smoker ... that scared straight stuff doesn't work (unless its like a friend or something) ...all smokers know cigs cause cancer. it just makes you smoke more cause you're like shit i might get cancer lemme get my cigs/crutch
I admire smokers who have the wherewithal to quit.
Best of luck Elderta and two.oh.
They ran this commercial entirely too much on SNY Mets games last year, I hope this crap doesn't start again.
Thanks, anonymass.
I really object to the commercials where the young mom is dyig from cancer because of cigarettes. What does that do to a small child watching? My 5 ear old had just lost two grandparents in a row to lung cancer (both smokers who had quit years ago, for all the good it did them), and then had to watch these bleeping scare tactic commercials? I really thought showing them at times when kids could be watching was just cruel.
Personally, all of the commercials just piss me off royally. Why aren't we worried about the air from ground zero that they swore was fine killing us with cancers and whatever else? That will do us in long before cigarettes. Why don't they spend this money helping the ground zero workers who are now dying form all sorts of ailments?
NBR, stop comparing the two. We lose more people each year (and more money for all you who couldn't care less about other people) to smoking than we do the air quality at ground zero. While I agree with you to a certain degree about having kids watch that ad, I think your point is weak otherwise.
On the flipside, maybe some parents will see it and think, "Man, this is hurting my kids." Who knows.
I smoked for over 15 years. I quit two years ago. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Seriously. But it was also the most rewarding. Generally, I tend to agree with what Gonzo said; a positive campaign could fair a better outcome, but I still don't think the ads currently running should be removed. Some folks learn by watching others. Most people change with positive reinforcement. I'd like to see them roll out a new one now that they scared folks a bit.
Anyone ever read the book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr? (May he rest in peace.) He took the positive outlook tactic and the success rate was outstanding. If you smoke and need that extra, positive push, I highly recommend it.(Elderta, etc) It will help you more than you can imagine. You have my word on that one.
Click the link above and read it.
Why aren't we worried about the air from ground zero that they swore was fine killing us with cancers and whatever else? That will do us in long before cigarettes. Why don't they spend this money helping the ground zero workers who are now dying form all sorts of ailments?
Uhh maybe because 400,000 people die every year from tobacco usage.
I'm a pack-every-two-weeks smoker and these tactics don't do a lot to freak me out ... I know doctors and surgeons who smoke, and they maintain that, like everything else, moderation is key. A pack a day is fucking ridiculous (and how much are you spending?!), but one or two cigarettes a day is not going to cause lasting damage.
I hear kids imitating this dude, laughing at these ads every day of the week. Smokers, especially teens, are not deterred by the I'm-sick-now-I'm-scared strategy.
The Ronaldo Martinez ads were first used in Massachusetts a few years ago.
If I were a smoker and saw those ads, I'd stop smoking all together .
Oh great, it's the irrational liberal I hate tobacco party.
I stopped smoking because of the ads last June. I even called 311 to tell them about the effect the ads had on me. It's very powerful.
This was one of the contributing factors to my decision to quit smoking.
As a smoker, these ads dont even phase me anymore. I've seen them since Fourth Grade or so; I'm totally desensitized by them. Ever seen South Park? These situations are punch lines. I must admit, though, it does make me do a double take when I see someone smoking our of their tracheotomy. Ewwww...
Props to those who quit, but seriously, if you start smoking in this day and age, you've got to be some kind of insecure, easily manipulated dimwit.
When I see people smoking I have to stifle the urge to go up to them and say "Have you ever watched someone you love die slowly and painfully from cancer? Because I have. And I do everything I possibly can to make sure that never happens to me. And even if you don't care if that happens to you, if you have someone who loves you, think about what he/she would go through as he/she watches you die."
I don't have an attitude without a cigarette
As an unrepentant smoker, I too ignore the ads. I certainly know cigarettes are unhealthy, but like everything else I ingest that I know is unhealthy, I probably won't change my habits until I feel like changing them.
As for Gonzo's question as to why we sell cigarettes, here's a question: What do cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets, Big Macs, Twinkies, Lunesta, Viagra, Prozac, Lorezepam, and methadone all have in common?
Aristocrat: Glad to hear you're not an insecure, easily manipulated dimwit but rather a judgmental jerk-off.
Now excuse me while I go take a smoke break.
Smokers ignore these ads because we all think this guy smoked five packs of unfiltered, full-flavored, double-loaded south american cigarettes per day.
We can't relate, because many smokers socially puff only half of a few ultra-light cigarettes, for only a couple hours on a Saturday night, and give away half the pack due to all the people bumming.
Getting a tracheotomy doesn't even enter one's radar when smoking in such a light, relaxed way. If there was a person who got cancer from social smoking, THEN people would listen. But alas, the data seems to only focus on crazed, gravel-voiced, ten-pack-a-day chimneys.... it's probably because the ads were made by non-smokers, who insist that all smokers are the same.
Wake up; they're not all the same.
the government should outlaw cigs, and legalize weed and yayo. Yup Yup.