Kerry Allen

I’m blogging elsewhere on February 19 and having a hell of a time coming up with a topic appropriate for that venue. Somebody beat me to the idea I was toying with, which, although panic inducing because of the big red circle on my calendar mocking my empty brain, made me feel less isolated in a certain way of thinking, so it’s a good thing. Really.

Fortunately, within a couple of hours, I had another idea, not a timely issue (or even an “issue,” for that matter), so hopefully it’s not on anyone else’s mind at the moment.

HOTM will return on Friday (delayed) after the feature’s January vacation. I tweaked the format a little because he’s not a romance hero, although he will forever be the object of my undying (undead?) affection.

And finally… I love the Truth anti-smoking commercials. I find the way they point to both the health dangers of cigarettes and the manipulations of Corporate Tobacco clever enough to perhaps be influential. (What self-respecting young person wants to help a bunch of rich old suits get richer, regardless of what they’re selling?) I also like some of the Above the Influence anti-marijuana ads, the ones that point out that pot makes you stupid and uninteresting and no one but stupid and uninteresting potheads will want to be around you. (You’re such a loser, your dog doesn’t even like you anymore.) This one, though, crosses the line into ridiculous (and not in a funny-ha-ha way) and destroys their credibility.

(Link rather than the video because god forbid you should broadcast their public service announcement. It’s the one called “FIRE.”)

I’m one of the five people in America who have never smoked marijuana, and this commercial almost makes me want to fire up a joint to protest the hyperbole. What’s the message here? Marijuana causes pyromania? I’ve never known a pothead with the ambition to engage in purposeful property destruction, unless the property was a bucket of KFC.

Now, a commercial involving LSD-induced hallucinations in which the kid has to set frost demons on fire to banish them and then comes around to find he’s burned the house down might be cool, but don’t insult the intelligence of your target audience by suggesting marijuana is going to cause the same results. My 11-year-old knows better than that. “Makes you stupid and uninteresting” is enough of a deterrent for anyone likely to be deterred. Head back in that direction before this campaign becomes as much of a joke as “Just Say No.”