Smoking Habits Among the Youth - Essay Example

Introduction

Smoking is a harmful and addictive deadly habit. Smoking has been a dangerous practice and a menace as it involves the intake of harmful substances; tobacco and nicotine. Mostly the elderly and adults were the group highly entangled into smoking, and it was a recreational feeling and at the same time, a health hazard practice (Care for Disease Control). Culture is a collection of social behaviours and customs of a specific community or society. It entails the practices, beliefs and the lifestyle of the particular group.

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Advertisement ion the other hand is a message or notice from either a person or firm recommending on a significant action. Advertisements may be used to alter a community's culture in many aspects, either positively or negatively all depends on the main message that is intended to reach the people. Today, the innovation of technology and growth of a new generation has boosted the rates of smoking, and the most affected group is young generation teenagers and young adults. Companies related to the production of the products have ventured into trickery advertisement capture the attention of the public and mainly the majority; youths. The companies and organizations involved in the manufacture of cigarettes have altered society's culture negatively by implementing these trickery ads. The advertisements are twisted in a manner that visualizes a message of manipulation to the public.

Fenice Vape Lounge

Fenice Vape Lounge is a company manufacturing e-cigarettes and shisha smoker pots. In 2018 it released a video advertisement marketing the new e-cigarettes in the industry (Fenice Vape Lounge "Vape"). The advert is a one-minute long video revealing the sensation and relaxing feeling of vape and how it can be used in public, unlike ancient cigarettes. It starts with a teenage boy jogging to a park pitch, drops his bag on the park bench and starts practising with his ball. Moments later out of exhaustion, the boy moves to his bag, remove the vape pen switches it on and vapes while reacting in a satisfied manner. The same teenager is seen joining a set of his peers who seem like doing schoolwork at restaurant's chilling spot; one of them a lady takes out her vape and starts vaping then picks her bag and walks from the place while still vaping. As she walks from the place, a couple behind her holding hands walks into Fenice Vape Lounge with an empty vape. They enter the store and ask for a refill, vapes it while at the counter and nodes to what seems like a satisfying reaction. The vape is then packed into a carrier bag with Fenice's logo then the couple walks out of the store.

The ad targets mostly the youth who are the most vulnerable group of the community. The boy is seen practising at the park then reaches his backpack and starts using the vape. The company is trying to encourage the use of its product by covering up the real danger with the relaxing effect in the advert. The culture defines the use of nicotine and tobacco as a harmful habit. Still, for the company to sell to be stable and supply its products to the intended public, the companies emphasize on what they want the public to think and not what is evil. To the youth-targeted, there is a relaxing feeling after a challenging task. The advertisement also lays out the advantage of the e-cigarette compared to the one before. The lady is seen walking out of the restaurant while vaping means that vaping can be done publically unlike cigarettes that have smoking zones and not advisable to smoke in public (Fenice Vape Lounge "Vape"). Also shows that the smoke is not harmful to people round; thus, no privacy needed hence the guilt of doing the wrong act is defied. Cigarettes get smoked and the filters dashed in bins or the designated places for deposit. With e-cigarettes; the vape is filled with the vape liquid containing the products inhaled, the art in the advert reveals the advantages of e-cigarettes.

Addictive Ability

The culture does not prohibit smoking but discourages the habit due to its addictive ability. It is a habit that when used to, addiction is inevitable. Both active and passive smokers can be subjected to the p the use of tobacco for an extended period (Pietrangelo). Smoke is light and travels miles either on in an enclosed area or open field; as a result, a large mass is affected when one person lights up a cigarette. Smoking either e-cigarettes or the standard paper-wrapped one has no difference in health-wise outcomes. Effects of smoking take time to reveal, but the results last for years. While smoking tobacco, the energizing effect is immediate since the smoke gets in the lungs and moves to the brain in seconds. The feelings are short-lived and after they wear out another burning sensation yearning for another builds up, creating the addictive effect of smoking.

Both adults and upcoming adults in society have been the vulnerable group due to the exposure via advertisements pose by companies to market the products. The internet and information connect the world travels faster. E-cigarettes have evolved at an alarming speed, changing the course of smoking to a pleasure act. Technology has transformed smoking and made it entertaining. Organizations and companies manufacturing and processing the products have come up with flavoured varieties (Care for Disease Control). Flavoured cigarettes are appealing, and many youths get involved due to the curiosity for wanting to taste the feeling others experience. "We are now so accustomed to being addressed by these images that we scarcely notice their total impact" (Berger). Flavoured tobacco products have been a pivotal factor in encouraging the youth into harmful smoking habits. A reported a large group of youths had used e-cigarettes due to the flavoured taste in them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is a habit that needs to be discouraged and considered as an illegal practice against the law. Among the youth, many who use e-cigarettes are more likely to be involved in smoking cigarettes in their adult life. Tobacco is a drug, and when abused, it has both physical and internal effects on the victim (Pietrangelo). Smoking affects both the nervous and respiratory system. When addicted, withdrawal may lead to severe headaches and even sleeping issues. Expectant mothers who smoke are easily linked with giving birth to disabled children or even worse still baths. Tobacco damages the dental formula, lungs and also cause cancer which is a fatal disease. Advertisements are a crucial link to culture change; hence the products advertised need to be scrutinized before launching to the public, for the safety of the society and the vulnerable part of the youth. "In the cities in which we live, all of us see hundreds of publicity images every day of our lives. No other kind of image confronts us so frequently" (Berger). Fenice vape lounge markets its products by showing the public the best sides of purchasing their good but not the risks (Care for Disease Control). Companies and organizations dealing with the sort should publically reveal the side effects of excessive use of their products. It is a simple step of creating awareness to the youth and society in general.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Peter Smith Pub, 1972.

Centre for Disease Control. "Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Young People." Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 July 2020,
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/Quick-Facts-on-the-Risks-of-E-cigarettes-for-Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.html.

Fenice Vape Lounge. "Vape." YouTube, Adrian leal, 22 June 2018,
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mXm-YXrg9BA. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

Pietrangelo, Ann. "26 Health Effects of Smoking on Your Body." Healthline, 20 Feb. 2019,
http://www.healthline.com/health/smoking/effects-on-body.