The print advertisement provided is on smoking effects especially on the lungs. The printed picture shows how far the smoke from cigarettes can cause damage to the lungs. The advertisement is made visible to the public to act as a warning of smoking. The smokers are supposed to see what is capable of happening to their lungs if they continue smoking. This advertisement is portrayed with red affected lungs to show the danger of smoking.
The theoretical part of warning people from smoking has not been so effective, and that is why the media finds it useful to make use of prints advertisements as warning. The advertisement is also magnified to make it clearly visible to the target group, who are warned against smoking. Small print advertisement may not portray the information as intended by the person advertising, and that is why this print is magnified (Shaughnessy and Stadler 203).
The print advertisement is a form of non-personal communication used by the advertiser to pass the information in a creative manner. The advertiser has put the lung picture in a way to persuade the viewer to become more interested to the information contained. The colors and the positioning of the advertisement is meant to expose the viewer in a manner that he or she will believe what the advertiser wishes.
The print advertisement is portrayed in a manner that, once the viewer set his or her eyes on it, he or she will see the truth of the advert immediately (Macnamara 113). The creativity of exposing the lungs within a human body has a great impact on conveying the message, as it is a sign of reality. The first look of this advertisement draws a lot attention from the viewers, who would like to know the message behind it.
This media product has overt messages that are hidden from the viewers. Even if tobacco industry may try as much as possible to be responsible and of help to the public, it is hard for them to come up with advertisement that would directly discourage users from purchasing their product.
What this industry does is to encourage smokers to change their habits, but continue smoking. The industry talks of light cigarettes with relatively lower levels of tar and nicotine, but the studies shows that they are equally dangerous. It is evident that, the big tobacco campaigns that are trusted to discourage smokers from purchasing the product, promote it (Aggarwal 342). This act has made the youngsters to think that smoking is not very harmful as their parents tell them.
The television campaign that ended in 2003 was an overt message to the kids when they were told, “Think. Don’t Smoke” the campaign was meant to discourage the act of smoking among the youngsters, and to encourage them to think beyond and see the repercussions of smoking (Berger 98).
Another overt message was in the smoking campaign that stated “Talk: They will Listen”. This was meant for the kids but through their parents. The parents were urged by the advertisers to talk to their children on issues concerning smoking. An Australian researcher challenged this phrase by concluding that there was no clear message, as to why teenagers should stop smoking.
The initiative of showing teens images of body organs spoiled by smoking like disfigured lungs and blood clot in a smoker’s brain has a more effect than theoretical part of it. Sometimes, it becomes hard for the advertiser to convey an open message of telling people not to smoke (Hoynes 107).
This is because the tobacco industry is also looking forward to retain and attract more customers into their business. Although the tobacco industry insists on telling the public that there are cigarettes that are less harmful, they do not prove the truth behind their advice. Most of media products therefore provide some advertising products with overt messages especially to the parents, with the target group being the kids. Parents are supposed to understand and pass the information to the young generation.
To convey the message of smoking effects it would be better if the cigarette packages were decorated with shocking pictures of body organs spoiled by smoking. Some of the pictures that would do best include premature aging, and lung cancer.
The media pass through this message by use of several signifiers. Apart from showing lungs suffering from cancer as one effect of smoking, some other signifiers are used to pass the same message to the smokers. The media tries to use various body organs to show how smoking can affect important body organs (Carey 364).
For instance, there are signifiers like blood clotting in a smoker’s brain leading to stroke and death. When smokers happen to see such pictures, they tend to take the information they receive seriously than before. Teenagers are the worst hit group, as they tend to ignore the advice from their parents, and they assume that they are adult who are supposed to be independent.
Another important signifier that passes this message well is through the images of clogged blood arteries resulting to shortage of oxygen in the body hence suffocation, and at times death. Advertisers have used several signs in efforts of trying to show people the effects of smoking.
Signs portray message more clearly than words only. As long as the signs are placed in a creative manner that would be possible to attract the attention of as many viewers as possible, it can create a great difference from the normal phrases that people are used to hear and see (Wells 142).
As much as advertisers try to convey the message of effects of smoking through various signifiers, other things still drags back their efforts. Individuals and organizations may come together to fight smoking, but the government is strict on other drugs like marijuana and leaving smokers unpunished. Smoking causes serious injuries to the body organs than some drugs, but no serious charges placed against them.
With the print advertisement, several messages are passed to the public with the main theme being discouraging smoking. There is need to do denormalization by trying to change the social norms of the people. People’s perception is very crucial, and there is need to convince them that smoking can compromise their health, and lead unacceptable behaviors in the society (Byrant 96).
Direct communication with the smokers is very essential, as this would involve a direct interaction whereby questions and answers session can be initiated. The families of a victim should be communicated to through cessation programs, as they are also entrusted to help their patient to recover. The advertisement opens some opportunities for the advertiser to share with the public the experience of a tobacco-free lifestyle.
The non-smokers, who see such a print advertisement, feel equipped with stronger public policies that may assist a great deal to reduce tobacco use among the young and the old. The continued side effects of smoking have proved to be harmful to the smoker, and even the people around him or her (Wells 153). Through smoking, the people around the smoker are also passively affected by the act, and that is why it is a responsibility of everyone to fight against smoking.
This effort would even safe the lives of innocent kids as well as the unborn. The most effective way of passing this message to the public apart from the media is through putting those shocking side effects of smoking on the cigarette package. This information on the package would end up reaching the target group, who are the smokers. The smoker will take enough time to go through what is written on the package, and get the information well.
Mostly, advertisements are faced by challenges just like any other activity. Cost is one of the challenges that are faced by the advertisers. At times, it becomes hard for the advertiser to relate the cost with the outcome of conducting an advert. The adverts that are displayed on the internet are declared as nuisance to the regular users of those internet programs (Macnamara 216).
The internet service providers keep on complaining about the financial burden created by the online advertisement. For instance, the adverts for discouraging smoking are presented to all ages including young and old.
Some advertisers take it to even public places like school to address the students, and some people tend to argue that is a form of child exploitation due to psychological pressures associated with it (Shaughnessy and Stadler 190). The shocking pictures of the effects of smoking provided by the media, some people claim that is a way of instilling fear to the smokers especially the young ones.
People claim that such pictures may have some serious psychological effects to the smokers, making the condition worse that before. Some people are against demonstration of some shocking pictures that show the effects of smoking.
Advertisements on the effect of smoking always face opposition from some people who have smoked for many years without experiencing such effects (Wells 137).
Some people claim to have smoked from their teenage up to when they are seventy. Such individuals tend to oppose the messages conveyed by the media concerning the dangers of smoking, as they see and consider themselves health. A lot of opposition has been received due to demonstration of some media products that show clearly what smoking is capable of doing in the body of a smoker.
In conclusion, the government to handle the campaign of fight against smoking should fund the media fully. Cost is discovered to be their main challenge, such that they cannot run such adverts for a long time (Carey 266). Another important step is for the government to introduce strict charges for the smokers; in the same manner, they treat other drug addicts.
The effects of smoking are far much serious than some drugs that are strictly prohibited. With enough resources, media would be in a position to conduct their campaigns and educate people as much as possible on dangers of smoking. This would enable them to come up with products that are more creative and persuasive to the target group.
One of the media products of smoking effects.
Works Cited
Aggarwal, Vir. Media and society: challenges and opportunities. New York: Concert Publishing company, 2002.
Berger, Arthur. Media and society: a critical perspective. Michigan: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
Byrant, Jennings. Media effects: advances in theory and research. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Carey, James. Communication as culture: essays on media and society. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2008.
Hoynes, William. Media/society: Industries, images, and audiences. New York: SAGE Publications, 2011.
Macnamara, Jim. The 21st century media revolution: emergent communication practices. New York: Peter Lang, 2010.
Shaughnessy, Michael and Stadler Jane. Media & society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Wells, Alan. Mass media & society. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006.