Language Gestapo

I'm sure you've all seen those stupid.ca stop smoking ads, and I'm sure you've all gotten a few laughs out of them. I'll admit, they're actually pretty good (except for the dog park one, that's gross).

That is, until the newest: the toaster one! It makes sense, and I know exactly what it means, but still, language is very important, and if people are impressionable enough that commercials can make them break a cripplingly addictive habit, then this is a very dangerous ad.

The sudsy guy in the ad states: "There is about a one in 36,000 chance that you'll die making toast in the bathtub. But, if you smoke, there's a one in two chance you'll die."

Now, like I said, I know what they mean: smokers die as a direct result of smoking 50% of the time. However, when they word it the way they do, it suggests that if you and your friend start smoking, odds are that one of you will become immortal.

It's not good to use ambiguous statements like that. These ads are aimed primarily at young smokers, the same people who get their political agendas from Green Day and Eminem. Things need to be very clear, or they can be dangerous.