Friday, February 26, 2010

Controversial French Anti-Smoking Ad

A provocative anti-smoking ad campaign featuring teens in a subservient sexual position has sparked a storm of controversy in France, with the country's family minister calling Wednesday for the advertisements to be banned.

The ad, sponsored by the Association for Nonsmokers' Rights, features a teenage boy who could be construed to be performing oral sex on a man in a suit, except the teen has a cigarette in his mouth. A caption reads, "Smoking means being a slave to tobacco." There are two other ads in the same vein, one featuring an adolescent girl.

The leader of the organization behind the campaign acknowledged the ads were meant to shock and said such provocative campaigns were the only way to reach young people.