Most smokers are happy to light a stranger’s cigarette, but what if that stranger was a child? Watch this and see what happens…

http://youtu.be/-u-rhnV4l08

As a colleague noted, the best part about this video is that it turns the “kids shouldn’t smoke” message on its head. I completely agree. It is well established that the most effective way to prevent children from taking up smoking is to reduce smoking by adults. When the smokers in this video were confronted by their own words to the children that smoking is bad for you and to give up, it forced them to consider their own behaviour. Contrary to popular myth, children and teens don’t smoke in order to rebel, they smoke to emulate the adults around them. That’s why the children of smokers are more likely to be smokers themselves.

This ad has only been released online and has so far garnered more than 350,000 views in less than three weeks. Not bad for a health promotion message, but I think it warrants at least ten times that many views. I urge you to share it with the smokers in your life who might need a little extra motivation to try and quit.