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The Buzz about BADvertising

BADvertising Workshop evaluations

This was without contest the most enjoyable conference session I have ever attended! (I’ve attended many conferences.)

The hands-on activity gets everyone involved & thinking. It was a great chance to really examine the problem at hand. Good project to take back to students.

Great fun! I think all educators should work at using this type of project in the classrooms.
Will use this idea in elementary school with art teachers.

Comments After seeing the "Joy of Smoking...A Spoof on Cigarette Advertising" Art Exhibit

Thanks for pointing out the truth about cigarette advertising. You’ve done it so very well! Patrick Reynolds, grandson of RJ Reynolds
Gross! If more people saw these posters, we’d have fewer smokers. Student
Very powerful! I have had programs at school that have not stuck with me, but this exhibit really hit home.
Jennifer Quinlan, Intern, Sen. Ted Kennedy’s office
I wish my Dad could see this...
We need your work on billboards all across America.
"Alive with pleasure!" If you read the small print, then look at the picture, you won’t want to bother smoking at all (because it’s not a pleasure). Joanna Zagarinsky, grade 10
The exhibit helped to generate student and teacher discussion about an important health issue. Viewers were forced to stop and think about the choices they were making in their lives. George Marnik, Principal, Deer Isle-Stonington Jr-Sr High School, Deer Isle, ME
The surgeon general has told people that smoking is no good, but they don’t listen. Bonnie Vierthaler’s pictures warn you and show you results of what might happen...That may be a lasting message in our minds. Dierdre Schmeidel, grade 10.
I live in a house where my parents smoke....I think that smoking, eating and kissing with the same mouth is groce...If God wanted us to smoke, he would have given us a separate hole for it....I really liked the exhibition and would like to assist in any way possible. Middle school student, NJ

A few E-mail responses to the BADvertising Website

I am down to one dip every other day, which is a start I guess. If it’s not a start, then it is certainly a vast improvement. I keep on looking at the Copenhagen picture I got from the Internet. I printed it out and hung it on my wall, so that provides more motivation. Talk to you later. Scott.......(Later) I finally quit!!! Thank you for all your help. I just kept looking at that picture I got off of the Internet. Thanks again. Scott
I am impressed with your approach. As a former smoker, I find your work reassuringly brutal and honest.
Cat Jackson, Media Production student, TX
I’m very pleased that someone has the guts to do what you do and I’d like to help out. Stan Van Gilder, Atlanta, GA CD ROM developer
Saw a blurb on CNN today regarding this page, so I had to check it out. Fantastic job! I’m going to try and get my Dad to check it out . Jake, Idaho
It’s great to see a site with such a good purpose. It was both educational and entertaining. I am one of those people who is disgusted by tobacco spitters. I’m a pilot for US Air Express and it is particularly gross when one is in the same cockpit with me! Thanks for your site and God Bless you and your mission! John Tenny
I’m a nurse practitioner at the Univ. of GA Student Health Center. We serve a population of 30,000 students and their dependent spouses. About a third use tobacco. Your site is fantastic! I love it! I will ask our health educators to contact you....If I could, I’d give you a great big cyberhug for doing such great work.! Thanks! Fran Beal, RN, CS, ANP
I am very pleased to know about your institution, it is a wonderful resource for materials for our campaign.
Sergio Cordeiro de Olivera, M. D., Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
I have an article due for the paper re: adolescent smokers; your "info" will be just the KICK I need. Thanks!
Bonnie Drum, Tobacco Control Chair for Hall County American Cancer Society and Smoke Stoppers Coord, Gainesville, GA
My son, age 15, has just confessed that he has started smoking. I am now searching for a video tape that I can have mailed to him showing the terrible effects that smoking has....I do not want my child to become addicted. Dianna Averitt
I hate to ask for so many, but could you send me about 10 brochures? I’m planning to go to area hospitals with them and request that they purchase your posters...to post in the hallways. Your posters are thought-provoking and will maybe get the message across to teenagers as well as some adults.
This is a great web site and I appreciate you being here. The ACS has some great materials, but after a while, they get a little stale.
Any, ANY info you can send will be appreciated .
facilitator with the American Cancer Society’s FRESH START smoking cessation program, Brighton, TN
I found your site finding information for my son who was court ordered to do a three page report on tobacco dangers and 24 hours of community service for possession of cigarettes. He is 12. I will donate the information to the city. Paul Hattstaedt, Glenwood Springs, CO
My name is Rizman Haroon. I live in Australia. I am doing a project on Smoking Advertising...I think your page is great and it helped me out. Thank you!!! Rizman Haroon, Australia
I found your home page fascinating! I am a MPH student at the University of New Mexico. I am writing my thesis on why Hispanic Adolescent females are a growing group of smokes and emphasizing the tobacco industry’s targeting of this population....Your slides would definitely be helpful in developing a prevention program....Your home page was a bright spot in a depressing search of tobacco issues.... Thank you for the laughs! Carolyn Sanchez Wilson, Peralta, NM
I am a sixth grade teacher, and I am very impressed by your "badvertisements" I came across them while preparing for tomorrow’s health lesson on the dangers of tobacco, and plan to show a few of your images. Angela Knight, Frankfort, In
I just discovered your website, c/o Mother Jones Magazine, and it is terrific. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I’m hoping to order some of your posters soon, to give to my son’s health education teacher for use in his school. David Austin, Marlton, NJ
What a great anti-smoking/tobacco site. I love the parody posters, they are so effective and to the point....I think your brochure would help me in my class. Tracey Fitzgerald. South Windsor, CT
I love your site! It sure gets the message across in a powerful and memorable manner. David Pickering
I just took a look at your web page and I must say I’m delighted to see there are people out there aggressively going after the tobacco companies’ disgusting advertising--in particular, your attack on Joe Camel was priceless.
Working on a CD to help youth resist tobacco advertising.
I went to a funeral yesterday. What can I say? Keep up the good work. mst
I am putting together an essay and Powerpoint presentation for my History class--"Tobacco Advertising Targets Children"....I have downloaded most of your posters and hope that it is okay to use them in my presentation. Steve Coombes. Univ Prof.
im a 23 year old male. i was very upset by the picture of oral cancer..I’ve been chewing for about 5 years now and I dont want to end up a statistic...Please send me your information...by the way, your web page was in my opinion the best page on the web ive seen...one that will save lives! Aaron Donato, Roseville, CA
Thanks for your ads on smokeless tobacco. The picture and info just motivated my husband to quit. He has been using for 14 years! Thanks again, Heather
I am trying to quit chewing smokeless tobacco...AGAIN. I found your website and will come back to look at the ‘Copenhagen’ poster every time I get the craving for ‘Skoal’...Thanks for your help. Jim Disser, Policeman
I wanted to say that your posters--your truth through contradiction images --are very powerful. They don’t seem to fit into the standard models of behavior change (knowledge change-->attitude change-->behavior change) that a lot of health education is based on.…That they don’t fit is challenging me to find a better model, one that can include strategies like using "truth through contradiction" to tackle the societal supports of smoking.

I live in West Virginia which has the highest use of smokeless tobacco. I am 21 years of age and I am a snuff user trying to quit. I am very scared of getting cancer. I think the posters should be posted in every junior high and high school. It might do some good. Thank you, Don
I just flushed half a tin of Kodiak after seeing your snuff ad….It sucks. On one hand I am sometimes too frightened of the thought of cancer to sleep. On the other…I am an idiot. No more.

Anyway, the primary reason for this is to regcognize and thatk you for the work you are doing…Thank you!!! I guarantee you are saving and improving many, many lives with your work. Jeff

Some Snail mail

We just received the posters and THEY ARE WONDERFUL!!! The snuff poster is the most provocative I have seen. Now how do we get Bonnie Vierthaler to bring "The Joy of Smoking" to our school? We could also coordinate the exhibit being presented at our shopping mall, hospital, etc....We would involve the entire community. I am sure you are deluged with requests and each one is more important than the other. Just remember, WE NEED YOU. ...Thank you for taking on a cause that is so vital.
Linda S. Tetrick, Librarian Gore Jr H S, Clarksburg, WV
I travel for National School Assemblies, booking educational school assembly programs. Last spring, as I was waiting to talk to a principal, I noticed two of your posters. I must say, those were the most powerful anti-tobacco messages I have ever seen. In my estimation, they hit dead center on the teen and sub-teen psyche. I’d like to see them in every one of my 1200 schools.
Kit Beecher, Ocala, FL
I think of you as a national treasure; as someone who has used her artistic ability, sense of humor and commitment to the common good to make a real difference in fighting one of the great killers of our time. I admire what you have done.
Bill Sieverling, Consultant to the YMCA, International Division.

This page is dedicated to Bill Sieverling, a dear friend who died last year of lung cancer...one month after it was diagnosed.