A new French antismoking advertisement aimed at the young that plays off a pornographic stereotype has gotten more attention than even its creators intended, and critics suggest that it offends common decency and creates a false analogy between oral sex and smoking.
France has banned smoking in cafes, bars and restaurants. But smoking is still increasing among the young in France, according to the French Office for the Prevention of Smoking, prompting an antitobacco organization called Droits des Non-fumeurs, or Nonsmokers’ Rights, to create the ad.
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Florence Montreynaud, the president of La Meute des Chiennes de Garde, or the Pack of Female Watchdogs, which opposes symbols of sexual violence in films and advertising, called the ads “unbearable” and said “what is most shocking is the banalization of sexual violence.”She is a feminist, she said, and a longtime member of Droits des Non-fumeurs. “But it is terrible to represent in the public space this kind of image restricted to pornography,” she added. “I’m appalled. It’s a poverty of imagination. When people have no ideas, they use female bodies.”
Nadine Morano, the secretary of state for the family, said she wanted the campaign to stop, saying she found the symbolism intolerable. “One can shock on the issue of tobacco, that doesn’t bother me, but there are other campaigns to do instead of this one,” she told Radio Monte Carlo.
One can only imagine the reaction this would receive in America.
Funny how it’s a man in a business suit, but then the French are more suspicious of business people. In America, the same ad would probably need to feature a man in Catholic priest carb to make any sense.
If they included “Big Tobacco, Inc.” on the sleeve, it seems like these images would be perfectly fitting.
The French only smoke so they will smell better.
I guess there is truth in advertising. Corporate guys have little dicks.
Got a light?
… Yeah, one sec while I pull out my flaming cock.
Overheard once:
“I prefer women who smoke to those that do not.”
Oh really, why?
“I figure they will put anything into their mouths.”
These ads might work with the French
I doubt they would work in America.
I remember reading a study which said that the typical “anti” ads in America actually ENCOURAGE at-risk kids to do the very behavior they are trying to discourage.
Using scare tactics makes the vice seem risky and daring, even cool — experiences which many teens actively seek out.
Every parent of a rebellious teen fully understands this.
What does work is to associate non-smoking with an even cooler and riskier activity than smoking, like extreme sports or rock-and-roll or sex.
It’s pretty obvious psychology, when you think about it, but we still get those scare-tactic campaigns.
You don’t have to Fellini to figure this one out.
This campaign is offensive to me because it associates a pretty acceptable love/sex practice with violence and abuse. I’ve gone down on some of my girlfriends. I love to see them getting pleasure from it. That doesn’t make me a slave. Girlfriends have gone down on me. I never thought that I was abusing them or treating them like slaves. One of them would actually be frustrated if she didn’t do it from time to time.
Insults like “cocksucker” or “suck my dick” used with the intention of insulting are also very offensive to all the people who enjoy engaging in such activity with the sole purpose of giving and taking pleasure with a beloved one. Like I’ve said here before, we live in a society that idolizes violence and insults and humiliates people who love. This campaign goes a long way to reinforce that culture. I wouldn’t expect that kind of faux pas from the French, of all people.
#9 Luc
I agree with you mostly, except that the implication is that the fellatio is against ones will, like the effect nicotine addiction has on smoking. It is certainly a bizarre way of approaching the subject.
9, 10,
Basically it says “smoking will make you a slave to tobacco.” I think they’re trying to get the image that these people are being forced to do it rather than an act of choice / intimacy.
“When people have no ideas, they use female bodies.”
What I see above is two males and one female…only the middle one is female. (Look at their necks)
Why don’t the feminazis complain about the exploitation of the males in this?
The French have clearly lost their way.
The way i see it, the advertisement is telling onlookers that “When you smoke, your sucking the cock of big tobacco”
#12 I’m with you, 2 guys, 1 girl, all ‘slaves’ to a man in the ad.
I know a few people in BDSM scenes and while it is a highly sexual thing, there are a few slaves who have no sexual or violence in the master/slave relationship. Where the “bitch pack” (a more straight/literal translation from French) get the idea that a slave is automaticly involved in some kind of violence is beyond me.
At least it has a filter.
Okay, call me silly, but the implication to cocksucking wasn’t obvious to me at first. The added aspect of cocksucking being forced or related to slavery was even less obvious, since I’ve always seen it as a friendly and passionate thing (for the receiver AND the giver) not something that once would be forced to do.
Of course, what would you expect from a triple wammy of:
A. The French
B. Anti Smoking Nazis
C. Advertising people
It’s not about violence. It’s about the submissive nature of the addicted.
#18:
D.Feminists
Hitler was against smoking.
Well you are putting a cylinder between your
lips, sucking so that nasty white stuff goes
down the back of your throat.
SIGMUND FREUD, The Interpretation of Dreams. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar!
Isn’t that the way Catholic Priests handle Altar Boys ? …
So the ad is obviously catchy, however if we are all going to get out of joint about this social issue of banning smoking, especially with emphasis on younger smokers, why not just ban all John Travolta movies in France, admit it, no one does sexy smoking like John Travolta, NO – ONE !