It is a rare occasion nowadays when I'm asked for my opinion, but thoughts still simmer to a boil in my mind.
At present, there is a Public Service Announcement from the New York State Department of Health flooding the television channels which I find to be disturbing, depressing and essentially useless. There are several scenes portraying an individual, shifting from his healthy childhood to what is apparently his deathbed. Since the message is aimed at discouraging smoking, I assume the man is dying of lung cancer or other tobacco related causes. The images are extremely realistic, invoking heartbreaking recall of actual loss to those watching.
Who is watching? What is the target audience? I would surmise, since the message is anti-tobacco, that the PSA is aimed at discourgaging young people from using it. Apart from the recent statistics that show fewer youths are smoking now than in the past, it is also true that fewer youths watch network television, home to these films. How many teens would take a message away from an ad which they would almost certainly deem irrelevant. The story of a healthy baby and toddler morphing into a sickly older adult is unlikely to register with them.
So the audience for this somber and morose message from the Health Department is destined to be older adults, those who still watch network tv. Speaking for at least one of them, I say we don't need any more grisly reminders of impending death. I despise those ads.
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