The Truth About Truth: The Anti-Smoking Propaganda

WTF?

Truth, the anti-smoking campaign that has been around for some years, unleashed a new fury of misinformed advertisements titled “WHUDAFXUP?” The new series of commercials stick with the agenda of educating children and parents on the dangers of cigarettes and the misdeeds of the companies produce them. The original series of Truth highlighted important statistics and facts, and then presented them in such a way as to make the viewer think “whoa.” However, the creators of “WHUDAFXUP?” seemed to have stretched themselves a little too far in an attempt to find new ways to convince the public of the hazards of big tobacco companies and their products.

The “WHUDAFXUP?” campaign focuses on decades-old marketing and research documents obtained from big tobacco companies. The creators pick out specific facts that they can easily manipulate on-screen with unlikely scenarios performed by the “WHUDAFXUP?” spokesperson, Derrick.

The latest commercial (and by far the most misinformed) starts by saying that big tobacco companies create fun, fruity cigarette flavors, while insisting that they are not marketing to children. To “prove” his point, Derrick goes to a park and sets up a brightly painted lemonade-type stand with words like “Mocha Taboo” and “Midnight Berry.” It’s no surprise when several children, and no adults, approach him.

The most misleading piece of information offered by Truth and “WHUDAFXUP?” makes viewers think that big tobacco companies massively advertise to children. How is that possible when tobacco is prohibited from being advertised on television, possibly the biggest source of information for children? In addition, tobacco ads are rarely seen on billboards or on the Internet. The only sources left for big tobacco are magazines, and there is no way a children’s magazine would allow tobacco ads to grace its pages. So just how are children finding out about fun, fruit-flavored cigarettes? WHUDAFXUP.