"People believe what they see. If what they're seeing is seducing them into a deadly addiction, then we need to counter the seduction and reverse what they see. In other words, fight fire with fire, images with images! "
Bonnie Vierthaler, founder
The BADvertising Institute |
Here in BADvertising Country we counter the seduction of dishonest tobacco advertising by doctoring-up tobacco ads to make them honest. By juxtaposing funny, gross, and disgusting images on top of deceitful ads, we jolt people into realizing how tobacco ads are concealing the truth about smoking. We show how they seduce young people into addiction to tobacco, and dupe the rest of society into dependence on tobacco money.

Artist Bonnie Vierthaler has done over 70 of these honest ads. Find them sprinkled around the site or click on Gallery to see them all. She calls this special form of counter-advertising BADvertising. Viewers say "Thanks, you've saved my life."
Basically BADvertising triggers new insights into an old problem and it works. Use our images, make your own, or just flip the images in your mind whenever you see a dishonest ad …you're BADvertising!

...and art saves lives. Learn How to BADvertise using scissors and glue or computer and mouse. All you need is some old magazines and medical journals! The price is right!
Have some Fun with BADvertising projects, factoids, and brain-teasers. Contribute some of your own.
Learn more about BADvertising, How and Why it works. Why is it so important? People know the facts. Why do they smoke? Why have massive tobacco prevention efforts failed?

Diiscover the fine points of BADvertising and how to present it. Breathe new life into worn out programs...or design totally new ones.

Great visual materials for everyone from would-be quitters, to lone crusaders, to the largest health organizations. Hang a poster, give a slide show, send an e-mail greeting, or put up a screen-saver for all to see. Lets get the images out where they can do some good...
NEW! In The 2005 Edition of the BADvertising website...

The Gallery of Before & Afters gives you a glimpse into the BADvertising process by comparing the original tobacco ads with the resulting counter-ads.
In the BADvertising BBS, the idea people, the artists, the computer wizards, and the people with projects and funding can find each other and work together to make things happen…to get the ideas off of the drawing boards and out into the world.
Harvest or post your great ideas and materials for creating new honest ads…ideas for billboards, t-shirts, TV commercials and more, tobacco ads, pictures of the tragic consequences of smoking. Coming soon...a Showcase of Honest Ads for the best finished products.

What You Need To Know offers some hard, cold facts, true stories, and gruesome information...the truth against which you can measure the tobacco ads and tobacco scams.
Don't be fooled by the pretty colors...
BADvertising-China seeks to promote good health in China by raising awareness of the tobacco issues in China. It's in the making.

The Chinese Translation section explains how to use our translated pages. Our translations of the BADvertising web site pages have been designed to show the English and Chinese together to help our Chinese friends understand the tobacco issues and improve their English at the same time.
This website is a labor of love....a work in progress.
Come back often!

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