"Can I Get a Light?" The Smoking Kid Campaign

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2022-05-23 04:00:04

“Can I get a light?” Most smokers are happy to oblige to the request. But when smokers in Thailand were asked this question, their responses were negative. “I’m not giving it to you,” said one smoker. “Cigarettes contain poison,” responded another. “They drill a hole in your throat for cancer. Aren’t you afraid of surgery?” lectured a third. Smoking makes you die faster, leads to lung cancer, and causes a variety of other ailments, they replied.

These weren’t public health workers talking but everyday smokers in the moment. Yet they ranted about smoking’s ills. And they did so because of the person who asked--a child. A small boy wearing a monkey T-shirt, or a girl in pigtails. The kids pulled cigarettes from their pockets and asked for a light.

After being rejected the kids turned to walk away. But before they did, they handed the smoker a piece of paper. It read “You worry about me. but why not about yourself? And at the bottom was a toll-free number smokers could call to kick the habit.