My recommendations:
Both adverts need some sort of sound.
I just don't find the message of the first advert very effective. The general pop doesn't really care about oral cancer, IMO. Not that they don't care, it just doesn't arouse the same type of fear that lung cancer,
throat cancer, emphysema, etc, simply because the anti's rally around the smoking issue so much. You don't see oral cancer awareness getting nearly the same level mainstream of mainstream promotion that the smoking issue does. Plus oral cancer doesn't effect others. If you are using smokeless
tobacco already, you have already removed "the burden of smoke" (read: they don't care) from the non-smoking audience.
I'd recommend you
shift the focus of the first advert to the 95-99% safe number I keep hearing, simply b/c it is a BIG number I haven't read up on this at all, but I keep hearing people saying that snus or one of the traditional smokeless tobaccos is 95-99% safe, and the government uses deceptive tactics to make it fit their anti-tobacco agenda. If this is the case use that to grab attention, lead them to the site, and then educate people on this issue, plus other smokeless tobacco alternatives (
vaping). Something like
"did you know that it's been known for over 30 years that snus has been proven to be 95-99% safe? Is all nicotine bad, or do some people **cue pic of big tobacco fat cats smoking cigars with politicians** have other agendas? Learn more about safe nicotine alternatives at CASAA.org"
Another play on this would be something like
400,000 people die from cigarette-related death each year. As of today, no death has been linked to the use of an electronic cigarette device. Yet.... some people **cue pic of big tobacco fat cats smoking cigars with politicians** want to ban the use of these devices. What's that all about??? Learn the truth about tobacco alternatives at CASAA.org
I think it's important that people need to remember,
unless it's an already practicing e-cig user or a smoker that wants to quit and knows what it's like, then you probably don't care about this issue. The exception possibly being a creative spin on the classic "family card," or using the "burden of smoke" issue.
I would recommend that you
create a third advert that mentions success rates of e-cigs vs government approved "quitting" treatments. (since we all know how appealing, and how well those work). Something that points out how ineffective government approved therapies are, and shows the the vicious cycle and its hypocrisy, and shows how much more effective e-cig is without sounding overly promotional. 2% vs 30% is a LARGE difference.
I hate to be the party-pooper here, but
I can say with almost 100% certainty that these adverts won't go "viral," and without some sort of miracle they won't make it past the vaping community's immediate spheres of influence (who are the people most likely to already be educated on this issue).
I hope I don't offend anyone thus far, or in what I'm about to say, but I get the impression most of our (the e-cig community's) associations don't have a barrage of funding to work with. I have no faith in politicians, as they will go the route of least resistance and/or most profit. Bearing all this in mind my suggestions would be:
1)
focus on the reduction of public harm. For the record, I think the environmental pollution from analogs is way over-hyped by anti's, but you can always play the "if all analog smokers smoked e-cigs,the environment would be less polluted, and there wouldn't be 2nd hand smoke public health issues" card.
2)
Go direct to the public. Educate people. According to my numbers, in most areas 25-50% of the population smokes. Almost all smokers want to quit, at least everyone I meet. so go make new converts! I can pretty much guarantee you if you get a CEO or high-level person that has been a 20-year smoker to quit using your e-cig, you will have no problem getting some "favors" from that company.
3)
Celebrities. There are openly e-cig using celebrities. If one of these celebrities were to pick up the cause, or even just create a 10 min video showing how an e-cig works, why it's harmless, and why the public should support these miracle devices rather that oppose them, it could do wonders for the cause. A video such as this would go viral no problem. The most important thing here would be that the celebrity frame it as "I tried quitting 10 times and this is the first thing that worked for me" rather than "look at my cool new e-cig."
Sorry if that was a little rough (and definitely way to drawn-out), but working in marketing I feel like these videos/adverts have a ways to go, and I want the cause to prevail
-Jordan
