A 30-second PSA, which was premiered on Sunday and aired during the MTV Video Music Awards, dubs some stars such as Rihanna and Stewart 'unpaid tobacco spokesperson.'
- August 26, 2014
AceShowbiz -
Some Hollywood stars have been unwittingly featured in an anti-smoking PSA. The 30-second clip, which premiered on Sunday, August 24 and aired during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, shows paparazzi photos of celebrities including Rihanna, Kristen Stewart, Lady GaGa and Chris Brown smoking. The words "unpaid tobacco spokesperson" flash when their photo shows up on the screen.
The PSA was created by The Legacy Foundation's Truth initiative. Slamming celebrities who give "big tobacco tons of free marketing," the campaign says, "Every time one of these photos gets posted, big tobacco gets tons of free marketing. They're the new face of big tobacco and they don't even know it."
With the #FinishIt campaign, the creators urge celebrities to "quit giving big tobacco free advertising." In one of its Twitter posts, the organizer denied that they were "shaming" the celebrities featured in the video. "We're not shaming 'em. We love 'em! Just dont want Big Tobacco to get free ads," they said.
According to the organization, nine percent of teenagers still smoke and they hope the number would decrease.
