The Rachael Leigh Cook ‘this is your brain on heroin’ commercial had a profound influence on me. Oh, wait, you mean in regards to drug use…
In seriousness, anti-drug propaganda probably influenced me in junior high, when I was naive and believed them; but on the other hand I doubt I’d have used drugs at that age regardless.
I’d admit, actually, that marijuana can act as a gateway drug to cigarettes!
Bill Maher put out an offbeat book on patriotism in which he expressed: “Put an American Flag on your SUV.” Its the least you can do for your county, ** Literally!**
Since hearing that, I can never watch the “Drugs support Terrorism” spots without mentally replacing “drugs” with “gasoline” and wishing someone would make such a parody.
Can somebody explain the “egg in the frying pan” thing to me, please? It is a bit mystifying.
They did, I think it was the Detroit Group. They made a commercial trying to show, “this is Dug, this is Dug’s SUV, this is the gas that Dug has to fill his SUV everyone mornign with, these are the guys that sold it to him, these are the guys that caused 9/11…” Got a little air time and a bit of hype.
I liked the commercial with the guy cutting the wires better than the “egg in the frying pan” one. I think they’re both just trying to show that using drugs messes up your brain. I have to admit the “egg in the frying pan” left a lasting impression; its probably the first one people think of. Now we just need to make the connection between eggs, cholesterol, and heart disease…
What’s your control group?
It was an 80’s(?) anti-drug ad. A man holds an egg, says, “This is your brain.” He cracks it into a frying pan and says, “This is your brain on drugs. [dramatic pause] Any questions?”
There was a revision of sorts in with Rachael Leigh Cook in a ‘this is your brain on heroin’ commercial the late 90’s where she attacks a kitchen with a frying pan. All I can say is wow.
Thanks!
LOLOLOL - OK I can understand those being memorable but not sure they’d work.
Another slight tangent, if you will permit, I have heard (possibly UL) of experiments done with spiders on various drugs, and am told that the one that really mssed up their heads, or at least their web-spining activities, was coffee. Does that ring a bell with anyone?
I’ll have a try at googling for it.
Eek - ok ignore the previous question - Googling worked better than I thought it would, for a half-remembered tale told by the CelynBrother!.
Some people can’t handle anything. I know people who have dropped out of school because they played too much Starcraft. Anyone who is looking to go awry can find something to facilitate their downfall. I respect your choices regarding drugs, but keep in mind that just about anything- even a friendly real time strategy game- can be a risk that keeps you from a productive life.
Well, I see this was answered while I was typing, but I’ll post anyway.
There was a drug ad by the Partnership for a Drug Free America in the 1980’s that was widely aired which went as follows:
Overhead view of a frying pan.
Voiceover: “This is drugs.”
Overhead view: an egg is broken into the frying pan and fries.
VO: “This is your brain on drugs.”
VO: (smarmy tone) “Any questions?”
Yeah, I have one. Isn’t that so simplistic as to be laughable, thus trivializing an extremely important issue?
It probably seemed pretty eye-catching and edgy on the drawing boeard, but was near-instant camp everywhere else. The ad was widely lampooned on t-shirts, by comedians, etc. etc. A scene in “Drugstore Cowboy” shows Matt Dillon’s drug addict/thief character laughing out loud at it on TV. A newer, “hipper” (ahem) version of it was aired in the 90’s showing a women (a then unknown Rachael Leigh Cook, ironically looking somewhat “heroin chic”) smashing first an egg and then an entire kitchen while screaming about what heroin does to your brain, friends, family, etc., metaphorically beating the viewer over the head as well.
This one time, (no not at band camp) back in college an anti-drug ad did remind me that I was out of pot and needed to call the grower.
Other than that, the only influence they’ve had on me is to make me think that these people are flat out liars.
I’m a responsible, employed, college educated engineer with a decent career and a paycheck that more than takes care of my bills.
Yeah, toking away in college really ruined my life. The only negative effect it seemed to have was that I couldn’t afford Playstation games all the time.
Responding to the OP, I’d have to say that the current and past anti-drug ads are an indirect cause to INCREASING drug use. Think of it this way. You watch all these commercials as a youth, believing them as you believed office Friendly (HAH!) because you have nothing to counter their clams. Enter adolescence, and you try some pot, or have some friends who tried it - and you realize thru observarion… that the ads were complete b.s. All their facts were either distortions or outright lies. Then you begin to think, well, what about all the other drugs I’ve heard about? Are they also not as bad as I’ve been told?
What we need is a truthful campaign. Maybe, “Marijuana is not as harmful than we thought (not physically addictive, etc), but Crack or Heroin are greatly detrimental.” Maybe kids would actually listen to such an ad.
Speaking of myself, I was totally brainwashed by the old propaganda. Without an older sibling or similar influence, I had no changce. Imagine the image you had in your head of a ‘drug-dealer’ when you were, say, 10 years old. At some point it just clicked that all the propaganda was just that. As an adult, it still disturbs me to realize that most people still have that image of a drug-dealer - pushing kids to get ‘addicted’ to pot, not the more common one of a friends helping out other friends.
i liked th eone that I’ve only seen a few times. It was anti-methamphetamine.
There was a woman cleaning her house, innocuous and pleasant looking sceene, maybe a cleaning product commercial. There was a pop soundtrack droning.
As the comm went on the woman cleaned more and more frantically, and chorus became more clear:
“I don’t sleep, I don’t eat,
But I’ve got the cleanest house on the street”
I just ROFL, spewed coke, and all that stuff everytime I saw it.
It was really, really funny. i guess the humor came from the incongruity of the opening and the lyrics.
I’d love to have it on video.
Add me to the Rachael Leigh Cook ad fan club. Hubba-hubba.
'Course, I wasn’t really paying attention to the antidrug message…
I think the anti smoking and anti drug advertisement in UK had some effect, both campaigns made it clear to people that it was all right to say no when offered drugs or smokes. In fact the ‘just say no’ campaign was probably one of the best ever. Other advertising campaigns against drink driving changed the attitude of people in general from “you shouldn’t do it, but if you need to get home and it’s late then it is OK” to “drink drivers are scum, and should be hung from the castle walls by their knads” which certainly helped reduce the incidents of drink driving related accidents. It is also a sobering thought as to how an advertisement campaign could change the general view of the population against a group (drink drivers in this case, but scarily would it work against homosexuals if a similar campaign was used for more sinister ends).
My favorite was the T-shirt that said:
This is your brain.
This is your brain on drugs.
This is your brain on drugs with toast, homefries, coffee, and a side of bacon.
I agree with this. I think one of the biggest flaws with these commercials is their failure to draw a distinction between marijuana and hard drugs. So when a kid sees somebody toking up, and that person doesn’t jump off a roof or, really, act much different at all, the kid doesn’t think “hey, they lied about pot,” he thinks, "hey, they lied about drugs.
These ads, and the overall propaganda would do a lot better to take each drug, one at a time and be honest about them on their own merits.
If they said “Ok, pot’s not going to kill you, it’s not physically addictive and it won’t make you crazy. Chronic use can create some health problems and it might make you lazy and unmotivated, but for the most part, moderate use is fairly harmless,” they would then have a lot more credibility when they said, “methamphetamine, on the other hand, will seriously fuck you up.”
A number of years ago, a friend of mine decided that he wanted to try pot for the first time. After indulging, one of his first comments was, “This is what everyone makes such a big deal about?” You could just see in his face the sudden realization that he had bought into such utter bullshit for so many years. Personally, I think it was a good learning experience for him. It can be real eye opener when you realize that just because someone is in a position of authority, they can still be full of shit.
Question Authority, and all that jazz.
These drug commercials do a horrible disservice to young people by not being honest in their approach.
I’ve been bothered by the anti-drug/cigarette/alcohol ads for many years.
I can’t put the blame on the creators of the ads entirely, a very big factor in what advertisements get published is the approval of whoever is paying for the ad.
Understanding your audience is crucial. It can be nearly impossible for many people put themselves into another persons shoes.
It does seem wise to me to target these types of ads at young people in an attempt to stop problems before they begin.
The problem I see is that many of these ads don’t focus on what kids care about. Most kids just don’t worry about physical problems. Tell a kid that coke can cause them to have a stroke/heart failure/whatever, and they think… yeah right, sure… ho-hum, maybe you, you old-fogie, go away… you are not cool.
The next problem is that you need to speak to the people who are prone to begin a drug habit. I personally think people who feel unhappy, unaccepted, or just plain bored or more likely to abuse drugs than those who have a sense of purpose, hope for the future, a feeling of belonging, etc.
So then, In order to make an impact on a kid, you need to talk to a kid about what they care about, and what they see as a possibility in their life, and you need to deliver your message in their terms.
The ads I see just are not doing this. (although I have noticed some improvements). Kids care about being excepted, having fun, being cool, looking good, sex, material possessions that further their coolness and so-on.
Why don’t the anti-alcohol ads show a girl throwing up on her hot (and soon to be long-gone) date? Because the people paying and the viewing public don’t want to see it. Never mind that it would get the point across to the kids you’re trying to influence, the rest of the world simply will not tolerate it.
My favorite example of highly-effective advertising that was too hard for society to take is a TV commercial that was against using animal pelts for clothing. The ad showed stylish women wearing fur coats walking down the fashion show runway…. A women gets to the end and a little drop of blood drips off the bottom of her coat. Then more and more drops fall…. ( the gruesome music begins) the models continue to walk and turn and blood begins to fly out of there jackets into the audience’s faces. It was a blood bath, it was horrific…. And totally, totally effective. But, too bad, people went nuts because they could not stand the reality of the statement, and forced the organization to pull the ad.
So, I agree that the current ads are a waist of money. But they wouldn’t have to be.