CDC Unleashing Another Barrage Of Terrifying Anti-Smoking Ads

Images from the new CDC ads that will start airing on July 7.

Images from the new CDC ads that will start airing on July 7.

Two years ago, the Centers for Disease Control launched a series of ads featuring horror stories from former smokers who got cancer, lost organs, teeth, and whose children suffered from the ill effects of being exposed to cigarette smoke. Some of these ads have been viewed millions of times online and the CDC claims they are helping to get people to quit or to never start smoking; that’s why a new series of TV spots will soon start hitting the TV airwaves in July.

The new commercials, which will have you reaching for the remote starting on July 7, feature a rainbow of former smokers offering “tips” intended to make you think twice about lighting up that Marlboro, Camel, or Kool.

Like the mom who smoked during pregnancy and offers advice on how to talk to your baby through the vent hole in a NICU incubator:

Or the former smoker who lost most of this teeth to gum disease and advises you to save your smile while you still can:

And one final message from Terrie, whose 2012 ad for the campaign has been seen nearly 3.5 million times on YouTube. She pass away in 2013, but not before recording one last “tip” for the CDC campaign:

According to the CDC, Terrie “demanded that we come and film her for this ad just days before she passed away.”

CDC Director Tom Frieden says the ads “highlight illnesses and suffering caused by smoking that people don’t commonly associate with cigarette use.”

With around 1-in-5 American adults still smoking, and millions of people still using chewing tobacco — which contributed to the recent cancer death of baseball great Tony Gwynn — the CDC says there is still a lot of work to be done to get people to stop.

Of course, it can’t help that the FDA is continuing to allow cigarette manufacturers to release new products, so long as they are virtually identical to cigarettes already on the market; thus allowing the tobacco industry to continue generating interest in its cancer-causing products.

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