Anti-smoking ads give new meaning to ‘butt out’

But do flatulence gags help send the message?

Social smoking is the butt of fart jokes in a new online Ontario Health Ministry advertising blitz that has gone viral.

The flatulence-filled spot — which CNN’s Erin Burnett said “might be the best public service announcement you’ll ever see” — targets those who consider themselves social smokers, refusing to admit that any smoking is bad.

“Just because I fart at parties now and then, it doesn’t make me a farter,” an actress says.

“I wouldn’t call myself a farter. I’m a social farter.”

The light-hearted video created by Toronto-based advertising agency BBDO has had about 330,000 YouTube views, and is aimed at young adults18 to 29 years. It uses humour to convey a serious message that smoking, regardless of the amount, can cause permanent damage and even death. The young woman actress explains and illustrates that farting is all part of her social activities and that sometimes she will use farting as an excuse to meet a guy. “Do you want to go outside for a fart,” she asks innocently. The commercial is part of a $2.7million Health Ministry antismoking campaign. Health Minister Deb Matthews said there is a “very serious social policy angle” featured in the cheeky ads. “Almost two-thirds of people who smoke a cigarette in a social setting go on to become smokers,” she said. Matthews said the farting ad’s popularity proves it “is accomplishing its purpose.” Alan Middleton, assistant professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business at York University, disagrees. Middleton said while he had a good chuckle watching the video, he concluded it misses the mark because it overwhelms the message.

“You are going to have a lot of people buzzing about this . . . without actually taking away the message, which is social smoking . . . is bad for you and bad for your friends. I think what you got is a highly memorable ad that doesn’t create memorability of the problem,” he said.