Anti-Vape Commercial

I would love to meet the person who pitched the idea that the best way to reach teenagers was to use stoner versions of the Muppets who look like they still live in their parents' houses, with nothing better to do than fact check their one friend all day. 

If you don’t know what I am talking about, strap in and let me take you for a ride. There are a few new anti-vape commercials that feature a group of puppets, where one puppet that looks like Logan Paul mixed with Owen Wilson, spouts out “misinformation” about vaping, and then gets corrected by one or all of his friends. 

Is this really how low we think of the next generation, that we can’t trust them with actual information about vapes, juuls, or other forms of e-cigarettes? Are puppets really the best option to reach the lowest generation, or is this just an attempt to reach the younger generation that just missed the mark?

On top of some of the commercials that have already been mentioned, there is one where a puppet is having an existential crisis. She is thinking about what it really means to exist, and if she is even real, only to be interrupted when she’s viciously vomited upon by her date. With no explanation whatsoever, they just display a fact saying, “Vaping weakens your immune system.” Because there is no possible way to more effectively communicate that. 

To cap it all off, if you visit thetruth.com you can take a test to figure out which puppet you are. The first question asked is “What is your ideal Saturday spot?” They were so kind to give you answers like “Any party that will take me,” “A quiet, contemplative coffee shop,” “Parked on a couch with a video game,” Moshing at a basement concert,” and “Eating boogers.” If that’s not an obvious “Fuck you,” to everyone taking that test, I don’t know what is. 

Now don’t get me wrong, as far as I can tell all the facts that they give in these commercials are true. I also think that as long as the information is good, keep putting it out there. But do it in a way that doesn’t patronize your viewers by assuming they will only listen to a puppet.

This marketing campaign is obviously made for fourteen-year-old boys that only play Fortnite, and think that “ligma” jokes are the funniest thing ever. So, can we please spare the general public from an obvious failed attempt to end vaping? The only things these commercials have ever done is make me want to vape more.