Response to Lia Moreggi

Would you go to a campaign like this?


I would go to a campaign like this because I know so many people that struggle with alcohol abuse as well as drug addictions. I don't drink or smoke or do drugs, but I would go to support the many people around me who struggle with it. I think it is a great idea and I feel as though a lot of the "above the influence" campaigns are centered around high schools where as I think the bigger problem is on college campuses. "College" is unanimously mingled with drinking. Teenagers are out on their own for the first time and are a lot more likely to give into peer pressure then they would have in high school. There are very few rules at college compared with living at home and because of this it opens the world of drugs and alcohol up to students. I can only hope that something like this would spread across campuses in the United States. 


Do you think Keene State College gives students too many opportunities to party? 

Anti-Smoking Advertisements

Every year 440,000 people die from smoking cigarettes in the United States alone. This "activity" has become such a normal occurence in our lives that I hardly notice who smokes and who doesn't. After looking at these pictures of anti-smoking advertisements I began to not only realize that smoking is a big deal, but that America has a responsibility to its citizens to provide as much help as possibly to those who want it.

Anti-smoking campaigns have been around for years and yet smoking is still such an accepted activity. The truth of the matter is that we need to take bigger steps in not only helping to prevent smoking, but in helping those who  want/need to quit. Smoking is an addiction. Like any addiction it is a painful process to stop and it takes a lot of strength, determination, and money. Quitting can be very expensive and that combined with the emotional and mental toll it is hard for a person to find the motivation to quit.

The marketing industry can help with all of this. Stop making advertisements that show how bad smoking is for you... the majority of people recognize that fact and start making advertisements that inspire you to quit. Offering a support system could go a long way on the journey to quitting. I'm not saying all the advertisements out there are all bad... I especially like the ones that take into account second hand smoking because it gives a  smoker an outside motivator besides their own health to quit.

Obviously, we have come a long way from the days of smoking in restaurants, movie theaters, and bowling alleys, but I think we have quite a journey ahead of us still. Can you think of some other ideas and activities that marketers could do to help this movement?