For anyone who has ever been to a public school for any amount of time, the term ‘Smoking Kills’ has been ingrained into their skull. Anyone who has turned on the television, or picked up a magazine have been told something completely different.

Tobacco ads have always tried to make their product as appealing as possible; having a beautiful person enjoying a cigarette. They are having fun, and it show smoking as something popular and cool, something attractive. Meant to draw people into their net, they greatly succeeded for many, many generations.

Now however, things are changing.

After a legal battle spanning more than 11 years, the Federal Courts finally mandated that big tobacco companies publish and run ads about the harm that their products do to people. Starting about one week ago, on November 26, 2017, tobacco tycoons are required to provide these announcements to national newspapers and prime time television, and some of these facts are gruesome.

These articles and announcements are often plain, black and white, with nothing to draw away from the message. They present the deadly facts like this in blunt ways.

“Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. Every day.”

“When you smoke, the nicotine actually changes the brain – that’s why quitting is so hard.”

As tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death, this is something that is groundbreaking, yet not earth-shattering. Yes, they tell people the harms that this product does to not only themselves, but others as well; this product causes cancer for a couple thousand people a year just from from secondhand smoke a year. However, as stated, many people, most people, almost every person in this day and age has learned of the dangers and harms of this drug, yet willingly partake in it, poisoning their bodies and changing their brains.

In both the short and long run, it is unclear how this action will affect the amount of smoking in this country. It could have no change, people acknowledging the ads and ignoring them anyway, or it could, hearing from the mouth of their maker, heed the words of truth and lower the rate of smoking in this country. Whichever way the people swing aside, the creation of this ad is both a great form of accountability and forewarning, causing people to look in on what they are doing and what they are supporting, and what their next step in the future will be.