SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – A new ad campaign by the Food and Drug Administration left teens flinching in their seats. The ad showed teens pay for the cigarettes by pulling off their smooth skin or by pulling teeth.
The advertisement focused on the basic matter of concern for a teen i.e. loss of control and their looks.
“Everybody wants to look good and especially concerning your appearance you don’t want your teeth to fall out …you don’t want nasty skin,” said Danielle Nowers a senior at CTEC.
“People are like it makes you skinny, but obviously you’d rather have your teeth and skin than be skinny,” said Madeline Kelly, a senior at CTEC.
The FDA reports suggests that all across the nation every day more than 3200 teens try cigarette for the first time and approx. 700 kids under 18 become daily smokers.
According to the Utah Department of Health smoke rate of Utah teen for age 12 to 18 years old is the lowest in the nation at 4.4 percent i.e. half of 2007 when it was at nearly 8%.
“I’ve never seen one where a kid pulls his own teeth out and that’s definitely getting a message across, that’s powerful,” said Elissa Collins, a junior at Rowland Hall in Salt Lake.