truth.

I recently had to do some work on the director of many of the truth spots. It reminded me how crappy that campaign is.

I don't know how the agency or client thinks that that sort of half hearted schmaltz is going to get to their target. In fact, I don't smoke, but the ads kinda make me want to start. There was a time when they were doing things right, but I don't know what happened. They apparently either stopped researching and threw the data in the shredder or they just decided to ignore it.

In addition to missing the point, truth's man on the street approach has descended to the level of fanatic. The type of thing that when we went into Manhattan when I was a kid, my mother would cross the street to get us away from.

If they are going to fight back against the giant tobacco machine (which seems to be slowing itself, thanks to the health kick) they are fighting against an icon. Smoking has been made iconic from movies, TV, and cigarette ads. The only way to combat that, it to make not smoking iconic, or to make smoking less iconic- In a way that appeals to the target.