Due to the commercial world we live in, advertising has become a less effective source. The audience is 'active', being more aware of the motives behind advertising (Livingstone, 1999, p.64).
Having interviewed a current smoker regarding the Everybody Knows campaign (see previous post), I came to realise that the commercial nature of anti-smoking campaigns can damage perceptions of companies such as Quit Victoria. Instead of being seen as helpful, such companies may be considered as profit-focussed or un-caring.
Another issue facing anti-smoking campaigns is that the audience is in control. By this I mean that the viewer can change the channel during the ad break. The interviewee said that the images of the campaign didn't phase them because they chose not to watch.
This means that there is a portion of the smoking population that the anti-smoking campaigns don't even reach!
References:
- Livingstone, S. 1999, 'New Media, New Audiences?' in New Media & Society, Vol.1, No.59, pp.59-66, Accessed 05/09/2010, http://nms.sagepub.com/
I definitely agree. I believe that the current ad's in circulation are not enough to deter people from smoking. As to whether there will be more effective ad's in the future remains to be seen.
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