The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week launched its first youth e-cigarette prevention TV ads.
The videos feature street magician Julius Dein turning a teen’s battery-powered vaporizer into an IRL cigarette in front of their astonished eyes.
“Some people think that vaping is no big deal. But that is just an illusion,” Dein says in the ads, which highlight the fact that teens who vape are more likely to start smoking cigarettes.
“You just went from vaping to trying cigarettes,” he tells the unsuspecting minors.
“I don’t think I can go back to vaping anymore,” one wowed spectator admits. “You actually just made me quit.”
The earliest forms of cigarettes date back to the 9th century—in the form of reeds and smoking tubes. But widespread tobacco smoking in the Western world is largely a 20th century phenomenon.
Consumption peaked in 1965, when about 50 percent of men and 33 percent of women were sucking down 100+ cigarettes a year. Usage began to wane in the new millennium, dropping to less than 25 percent of adults who now smoke tobacco.
Children, however, are a different story: In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that upwards of 4 million middle and high school students currently use tobacco products.
That’s 4 million too many for the FDA, which launched its public education effort in September, targeting youngsters aged 12 to 17 who have used e-cigarettes or are open to trying them.
“The troubling epidemic of youth vaping threatens to erase the years of progress we’ve made combating tobacco use among kids,” according to acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless. “It’s imperative that our work to tackle this immensely concerning trend continue to include efforts to educate our nation’s youth about the dangers of these products.
“As our new ads state: ‘It’s not magic, it’s statistics,'” he continued. “And the potential for kids to become traditional cigarette smokers because of e-cigarettes gives me great pause.”
Look for the bewitching commercials on TeenNick, CW, ESPN, and MTV, as well as music streaming sites, social media networks, and other teen-focused media channels.
“We cannot allow the next generation of young people to become addicted to nicotine,” Sharpless said in a statement.
Since “The Real Cost” campaign launched in 2014, the FDA has expanded its science-based approach to teach kids about the harmful effects of all tobacco products—including e-cigarettes.
You don’t need a magician, though, to illustrate the consequences of vaping.
Last year, an e-cig device exploded in a teenager’s mouth, broke his jaw, knocked out a number of teeth, and pierced a hole in his gums.
Austin Adams traveled 200 miles to a medical facility in Salt Lake City, where doctors installed temporary braces and plates on his jawbones. For six weeks, the 17-year-old also had his jaw wired shut and his gum line sewn together.
Gross.
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