As always, the opinions expressed in I Write and Get Mad About Things are exclusively those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Whim or Radford University.

Okay, we get it now. Cigarettes are bad for you. I myself am not a smoker, yet I can’t possibly express how sick I am of turning on the TV and being forced to sit through these damn Truth commercials. So, what do we have to date? Dead babies on the streets, some guy trying to mail a box of cigarettes, huge billboards in New York, and kids picking their noses? Man, what is everyone thinking? Stop smoking! Stop smoking now, for Truth commands it!

The first thing that really bothers me about the Truth campaign is, why cigarettes? Smoking may eventually kill you. I’m sure everyone would accept that, but that’s only because everyone already knows. It’s no secret that cigarettes are dangerous and will cause cancer if abused to a certain extent. Truth ads are beating a dead horse. According to Truth, the smokers will all die a horrific death. Isn’t that good enough? Do you really have to make feeble attempts to berate them on national TV every commercial break?

What about alcohol? Cigarettes will give you cancer, and you may die a slow painful death in your twilight years, but alcohol may cause many more horrific events to transpire. Alcohol may cause someone to commit murder with an automobile; alcohol may cause a woman to be sexually assaulted; alcohol can break up families, ruin relationships, and destroy lives far earlier than cigarettes can. Yet, alcohol is so prominently displayed in a positive light, day in and day out. Drink this beer because it will make you attractive to women, or drink this malt liquor because it will make you appear intelligent and athletic. You don’t see Truth ads on TV telling you not to drink alcohol, and you don’t see cigarette ads telling you that you’ll be a better person for smoking.

Something else that really gets to me, is the newest Truth ad. The commercial depicts several teenagers in high school who meet outside the building for “a pick.” The “pick” is in reference to the kids picking their noses. We are then treated to the Truth narrator who asks us, “isn’t smoking cigarettes just as disgusting?” Disgusting? I realize some people don’t think smoking is attractive, but people also find a number of other things disgusting. I would like to take this opportunity to drag myself into the argument. I am a large guy. Scratch that. I am a huge individual. I know this, and I’m all right with it. However, some people in our society are not so accepting. I am willing to wager that throughout my time in elementary, middle, and high school, I was picked on, ridiculed, and refereed to as “disgusting” more times than all of my cigarette smoking friends combined. Where are the Truth ads saying, “lose weight fatty, you make me want to throw up,” or, “pick your nose, it’s just as disgusting as being fat.”

Come on people, give it up already. We understand that smoking is bad for you, but so is everything else. It’s the bad things that make life worth living. I’d rather die at 50 with a cigarette in my hand and a stripper on my lap, than to live to see 90 eating rabbit food and playing by the rules. If you don’t agree, that’s super, you’ll get to see all the cigarette smokers die off while you “win.” For the meantime though, let it go. You can stay fixated on dying, while the rest of us worry about living.