Great
American
Smokeout
B Y MARGARE T RHODES
The battle to kick America’s smoking habit rages on. Though just 19% of U. S. adults are regular smokers—down
from 42% in 1965, when folks were just starting to pay attention to its health risks—smoking rates are now
declining at a crawling pace of 1% per year. In an attempt to speed up the process, antismoking campaigns
have replaced flirtation with fear.
· In 1980, the Surgeon General published “The
Health Consequences
of Smoking for Women.”
That same year, this ad
was designed to look
like a page out of a
fashion magazine. · Featuring a 15-year- old Brooke Shields,
the ad was scrapped
by the Department of
Health and Human Services after she appeared in suggestive
the American Lung
Association.
·In 1968, Olympian Peggy Fleming was
the first celebrity to appear in an antismoking
ad. The next year, Congress would require
that all cigarette packages bear the Surgeon
General’s warning. · Rather than telling onlookers, “Don’t
smoke,” the friendly
slogan aimed to lead
by example. · The slightly risqué camera angle is
meant to sex up the
antismoking message.
·In 2009, the New York City Board of
Health attempted to
curb smoking by requiring the city’s
12,000 cigarette retailers to place images of
decaying teeth,
damaged brains, and
cancerous lungs near
products. · The ads were quickly banned when a U. S.
judge ruled that they
violated vendors’
rights to free
speech.
·Rather than focus on mortality, this 2011
campaign aims to
show the long-term
suffering smoking
can cause, which, according to the New
York City Health commissioner, motivates
more smokers to quit
than the risk of death. · Four million Ameri- cans suffer from
emphysema as a
result of smoking, and
the habit can double a
person’s stroke risk.
1968
2009
1980
2011
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
THURSDAY 24
Balloons may be just a bunch
of hot air, but it takes more
than that to keep them afloat
when they’re giant size. De-
signers at Macy’s Parade Stu-
dio craft miniature 3-D molds
to carefully plan inflation and
deflation ports; during con-
struction, helium-barrier fab-
rics are used to keep the
element securely inside—
particularly important as “pin-
holes can deflate a chamber,”
says John Piper, studio VP. (He
knows this too well—in 2005,
a gust of wind sent the M&M
balloon out of control, caus-
ing it to deflate and injure two
onlookers.) As extra insur-
ance, new radio modifications
will help balloon handlers
communicate. “If you’re 4 or
94,” says Piper, “you get ex-
cited when those balloons go
into the sky.” As long as they
stay there. —EMMA HAAK
More than
3 million
spectators
will line city
streets for
the parade.
