Blog Post 6 - Create a PSA



Blob Post 5 - Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcement



      Smoking has become an ever prevailing problem in this country for years, and it's beginning to take fuel in younger and younger generations. But why is something so dangerous appealing to the youth? Three of the main reasons that young people smoke according to an article on healthliteracy.worlded.org are to look mature, to be like their friends, and to experiment. Every day teens see older people all around them smoking, especially their parents and relatives, they smoke to act older.  If their friends smoke, they may also feel pressured into doing the same to be accepted, to fit in. In todays culture, fitting in is everything. The last reason is the excitement of experimenting with something that is forbidden. We all know that rush we get when we bend the rules, this gives that same rush! The worst is that if you begin smoking at a young age you are more like to become addicted and once addicted it is much harder to quit. People also often turn to smoking as a de-stresser or to curb appetite. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year according to the American Lung Association.

In recent years, more and more anti-smoking ads have popped up across the nation, and world. This is not just a problem in our country, but everywhere. Below are a few that I have come across that are actually not ads circulating in the US, but other nations in the world. Take a look at them!



 

 
      Each of these ads convey their message in a different way and are powerful in their own way. The first, a picture, truly does show how a picture is worth a thousand words. The image relates to how smoking is the same as taking ones life with a bullet, one is just quicker than the other. It shows how you have control over your own destiny, much like the power one has when contemplating taking a life. It really puts the power in your hand while simplifying the fact that what you are doing is killing yourself, the same action and power that a bullet has. The second, uses innocence against us. They show us that when one messes or takes away the innocence of one of our "protected" that it makes us stop and think. Though we may be doing the same thing that causes them just as much harm, we care more about them then ourselves and will do all that we can to continue to preserve that innocence. We don't want them to grow up too fast. Each person confronted tells them the dangers that those kids are exposing themselves to when lighting up, but never take a second to actually listen to what they are saying. They pull out every statistic from the book, but don't think about that each and every day when they light up on their own. Though each of these ads main audience are for smokers (especially the video ad because so often will some practice "do as I say, not as I do"), it can also be call to those around them to remind them of the dangers they are partaking in. Some people may say these ads, especially the picture ad, go too far. But honestly, they are just brutally honest. They put it into perspective. Smoking is killing yourself. It can shorten your life by about 25 years, that's about 28 minutes per cigarette for a typical smoker according to Medical News Today.

      So with all of these powerful ads and the information behind the dangers of smoking, why are tobacco companies still in power. One, smoking is addictive and hard to quit once addicted. Once an addict, always an addict. But how can we help this not be a thing, how can we help and what can we do? In Joel Spitzer's 30 years of being involved with smoking cessation education he has found a few similar commonalities in those who have wanted to quit and those consist of wanting to be a positive role model for their kids, a sense of shame from peers due to its smelly and offensive nature, the obvious health risks, as well as the expense just to name a few. Now ads nowadays are appealing to these, especially as we can see above with them appealing to "doing it for the kids" and the relational dangers that smoking is. But to continue this we need to use the reasons for smoking as the basis for  ads. Below is just one example as to how we need to continue this ad campaign.

 

Blog Post 4 - One Red Paperclip

 

It was interesting watching the video and actually being able to see the power of persuasion, or in my case lack there of, with regards to this experiment. It's crazy that something so small though, can have such power behind it and turn into something so much greater. This little experiment showed me a lot and really put into perspective that there is a reason I am in a argumentation and debate class. First off, I had to find a paper clip for this experiment because I really don't know the last time that I actually had used one. Once I found one, which took a surprisingly long time, I was off! I started with my roommates, hoping they would at least humor me help me out a little bit with this little project. I was sadly mistaken. They all pretty much said the same thing, "what the heck do I need a paperclip for?" It was sadly unfortunate. I even tried to pull the roommate card and pull some puppy dog eyes, but they weren't buying it. So I moved along. I went to class and was sitting next to one of my buddies. We had a pop quiz and I forgot a #2 pencil for the scantron my professor was about to pass out. I thought, what the heck, let me try my luck again! I asked my friend if I could trade my little blue paper clip for a pencil. He kind of looked at me crazily and shakily said sure, probably wondering why I was trading when he would of just let me have it for free. Hey, it worked! I got my first trade and for something a little more significant, at least in my mind. The week went on and I continued to fail when tying to trade up. I then met up with another friend prior to a meeting and we were studying when his pencil broke and he began searching through his bag for another writing utensil with what seemed  to be no luck. BOOM! There it was! Another opportunity to try my luck. So I asked him, "Hey! I'll trade you my pencil for a scantron? I need it for a test tomorrow and don't want to wake up early to have to buy one." He gladly accepted cause he still had a lot of work to do and was on that study grind that we all know, and never want to interrupt when we finally get into it! However, this was my last stroke of luck, and my trading ended here. Gosh, this was hard and I give major props to Kyle MacDonald for being able to start with a little red paperclip, and work all the way up to a house. Words, if you use them right can have a very powerful effect on people that I still have yet to learn. I mainly tried to focus on peoples needs. and what they needed but also what they would be willing to trade. It was hard though, because many people are willing to take however, very few are willing to give in return. I think Jenny Mullen said it best with " I think the power of persuasion would be the greatest superpower of all time." Just think about it! Unfortunately this is a power that I don't have and really need to work on.