You can stop imagining. I’m sixteen. 
The first time I saw that ad, I knew for sure that Big Tobacco had to be behind that (well…they have been ordered to make a certain amount of anti smoking ads, right?) because it’s so asinine. It is precisely the kind of thing that would make a kid go out and smoke just out of spite. Even the character in the commercial thought it was pretty stupid.
The organization which produces the ads, the American Legacy Foundation, is a non-profit organization which is funded with money from the 1998 tobacco lawsuit, but is not actually owned or controlled by any of the tobacco companies.
Looking at the Foundations press release, I was surprised to see that a songwriter I never heard of, David Yazbek, was the songwriter. The “Typo” spot especially reminded me of something someone like Marc Shaiman would write.
Wow, people think turning into Howard Hughes is a good thing? People really are stupider than I thought!
This is a crowning achievement in advertising. It’s the supreme anti ad. Look at the jingle:
“they know the magical amount
enough to really hook ya
the magical amount
but not enough to hurt”
Neat, memorable and it makes you think there’s not enough in a cigarette to actually kill you. Great, great advertising.
In fact I’ll bet every person associated with The Truth is awesome enough to smoke Marlboro Reds. With the filters broken off.
They’re that tough.
Always wondered which brand to pick for maximum baby destruction.
It’s just weird that they would, in fact, say “not enough to hurt” when it’s an ad AGAINST smoking. Uh…I thought the point was that smoking is EVIL and that cigarettes were full of HURTY chemicals.