Filed under: Gripes, Television, Ads We Hate, Op-ed
Has there ever been an anti-drug commercial that didn't treat its target audience like they were complete idiots? If there is, I haven't seen it yet. The latest one to go in my "WTF? file" is this spot created for the "Above the Influence" campaign. In it, a new fad called "SLOM" or "Sticking Leeches On Myself" is sweeping a high school. Even though it seems weird, kids are doing it just because everyone else is. Get it? It's just like smoking pot because your friends pressure you into it!
No, stupid, it's not like that at all. Kids smoke pot because pot makes them feel good. Yes, there's an element of peer pressure involved, just like with tobacco and alcohol, but that's only part of it. Kids do things to alter their state of mind because they enjoy the feeling, and to insist that it's the same as applying leeches to your face is both ignorant and insulting. If you want to tell kids there are better things to do than get high, that's fine, but the first thing you need to do is not talk down to them.
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