Controversial Anti-Smoking Ad: Crying Child Loses Parent

I wish my dad had seen this ad targeting parents who smoke. It shows a 3-year-old boy crying when he can't find his mother. A voice-over says, "just imagine if they lost you for life."

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Anti-Smoking
• ad
• campaign
• boy
• crying
• Separation
• DOHMH
• new
• york
• city
• department
• of
• health
• and
• mental
• hygiene
• anti
• smoking
• child
• train
• station
• alone
• mother
• ny
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• Tobacco
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• quit
• today

[menehunemedia]

How am I missing the point? The kid is in tears because he lost his mom, just like my sibs and I miss our dad with the big difference being that our dad isn't coming back which was the whole point of the ad.

[brendalg4]

@menehunemedia You are missing the point because this child was exploited. Those are real tears. He is *not* acting. A representative went on television and admitted the tears were real.

Is it right to make a child fear he has lost his mother to make a point? We are always telling children something bad could happen to them if they don't stay in our sight.

[menehunemedia]

@brendalg4 I understood that & I think it's reprehensible to exploit a child for the sake of "art" just like they do all the time in films and on TV like on the first episode of Boardwalk Empire where the little girl is shrieking in obvious terror. My point was that I wish my father knew the sentiment of the ad, not how it was made. That is a totally different discussion.

[jhobartb]

It's not controversial just because it features a crying child. It's because the child isn't acting - The producers really made him believe his mother was lost, which is cruel and exploitative. I'm sorry for your loss but you're missing the point.

[belinda06101]

@jhobartb its disgusting, hope we never see commercials like this using children again

[m3a12as4]

Someone give that kid a smoke!!! It will not only make him stop crying but also make him 10x cooler.



[brendalg4]

@belinda06101 Yes, it was the child's real mother. See watch?v=JHeokDUDGPE The representative tries to say that the child only lost sight of his mother for a few seconds, as if by mistake. Give me a break. You know they did it on purpose, multiple times.. until they got the reaction they wanted. That is the only thing that makes sense.

Read up on stories of how they get children to give the reaction they want.. such as telling them their dog was just shot.

[brendalg4]

@bluestreaker541 Do you really think a 30 second commercial is shot in 1 minute? It takes hours or even days to shoot a commercial.

[Thorpy43]

@acrazyswede Harden up princess

[acrazyswede]

This is CHILD ABUSE plain and simple! No young child can cry like that on demand (aka acting). They deliberately made him feel abandoned. Thats disgusting! I wouldn't listen to any ad campaign that abuses children or animals

[bluestreaker541]

Even though the kid had his mom taken away to get a real reaction from the child, the ad is still strong and there should be more like it. It was probably the only way to get a real reaction. He may have thought he lost his mom for maybe a minute but the reaction was so authentic that it could touch a lot of parents. The kid was fooled into thinking his mom was gone for a minute but it was at the expense of changing lives. Getting people to stop smoking > young boy scared for a minute

[belinda06101]

I dislike this so cruel to do this to a child, if it is true the producers did this on purpose made the mum walk away should never had been done, of course the poor lil boy is upset & is it true that this is the true mother of this child? if it is how cruel of her to even accept such a role in a commercial I think its disgusting, I hope I never see any commercials for quit smoking again like this I am a mother of a 15 month baby boy & not only would it tear my son apart if he were that age .