NY State is going to be increasing its anti-smoking initiative. Newsday says that an independent review found the state's advertising to be bad - it failed to "elicit emotions" in viewers, which probably means the state or ad agency working pro bono was asleep at the wheel. In fact, the CDC thinks NY State should spend almost $100 million to tout the anti-smoking message, but spending is more along the lines of $40 million. CDC, get in line - there are school children who need to be educated first.
Gothamist didn't really realize there was a statewide effort to let us know about the health issues associated with smoking, since Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban has been something New Yorkers have had to live with since 2003. What's more, there's continued evidence that the Mayor's smoking ban didn't really hurt the bar business permanently. The NY Times even found some smokers who liked the ban, because their dry-cleaning bills were lower, sometimes it's nice to get some fresh air while they take a drag and there's a self-selecting smokers-only scene on the sidewalk. It's unclear whether the city has investigated what the smoking ban has done to the dry cleaning business, but Gothamist can only guess that the increase of barf-covered clothing from non-smokers who are now compelled to drink more at smokeless bars has more than offset any downticks in business.
Once upon a time, people really hated the smoking ban.
