Happy 35th Birthday to the Great American Smokeout! As a 40 something, I have noticed many changes regarding smoking trends, lawsuits, bans, and the like. It may be just a coincidence, but I just started watching the first season of the AMC series Mad Med, and am really taken aback by the show's cavalier, yet authentic, depiction of cigarette smoking in 1960s. The contrast between America's attitude towards smoking then and towards smoking now gives me pause. In the show, I have yet to see a scene with an absence of smoking. At Sterling Cooper, the Madison Avenue ad agency which is part of the setting the executives in the window offices overlooking the city and the rows of women in the secretarial pool all puff away right at their desks. I can't even imagine how that could be tolerated in today's workplace. In the scenes at home, the housewives are rarely shown without cigarette in hand or if their hands are full carrying a child, their cigarette dangles from their lips. Really? One of the characters is obviously close to giving birth and she lights up and inhales right along with the non-pregnants. What? Maybe it is because the American Cancer Society has done such a great job informing us about the dangers of smoking that seeing this today makes us shake our heads with disgust. Do you remember a dozen or so years ago the Ad Council ran a campaign showing a growing baby inside a clear amnionic sac? As the commercial went on to warn pregnant women of the dangers of smoking, the sac began filling with smoke. What a powerful visual! Obviously the Ad Council was not yet focusing on the anti-smoking issues in the early '60s. Going back to Mad Men, in the restaurant scenes, smokers intermingled with non-smokers. I can recall this being the case when I was a little kid. In time came the warnings about second hand smoke, which provided the impetus for designated smoking and non smoking sections in most restaurants. Fast forwarding to today, laws in most states ban smoking in restaurants and bars all together. Yes, as we continue to learn more about the depth and breadth of the effects smoking has on our bodies and even on our economy, on the healthcare industry, on the politics of DC lobbyists, and the like, we realize that the glorification of smoking has become passe. Thank goodness we really have come a long way baby! So today we celebrate the 35th birthday of the Great American Smokeout, and if you smoke or know someone who does, be encouraged by today's birthday celebration. You may just tack on another birthday for yourself or for that smoker in your life!
For More Info, click this link!
No comments:
Post a Comment