A new commercial for Nicorette gum has been on the air for the last few weeks.
I understand the point that Nicorette is trying to make. Smoking is addictive, quitting smoking is hard, and when you try to quit smoking you might have trouble focusing on the world around you. Products that help people quit smoking are a good thing and I’m hesitant to criticize them in any way, but this commercial is troubling.
After “Jaws” came out, millions of people were afraid to swim along beaches, but at least they felt safe on land. In this commercial, a shark leaves the water entirely to attack a person and continues to bite the poor smoker’s arm.
Obviously, this commercial portrays shark behavior in a completely unrealistic way. Sharks do not go out of their way to attack people. Sharks do not venture out of the water to hunt (though dolphins do). Most shark “attacks” stop immediately after the first bite as the shark realizes that we are not food.I learned this as a toddler, which means it isn’t exactly breaking news. It’s reasonable to expect people to know this.
Perhaps I am overreacting to what was clearly supposed to be a joke and not a documentary about shark behavior. However, as I’ve stated many times, shark conservation requires that people care about sharks. As people realize that sharks are ecologically important and threatened, sharks will be better protected. Perpetuating false stereotypes about sharks as mindless killing machines who exist only to attack people who go in (or near) the water detracts from this goal.
Nicorette is a great product, but it simply isn’t necessary to perpetuate fears about sharks to sell gum that helps people quit smoking. You can help people without hurting sharks.
~WhySharksMatter
I am sure the killer whale folks have a similar blog post up today over the video making the rounds. This video is so far over the top I was amused. I see where you are going, but, can we as conservationists also laugh at “preposterous sharks” as well?
I was far more disturbed with the Shark Week 2009 programming which was an endless gore fest under the guise of education.
I see what you are saying, and I definitely enjoy laughing at “preposterous sharks”. Here are two examples of hilarious shark parodies that contrast pretty strongly with this ad.
1) “Monster shark tries to attack Long Island, Fails” is a satirical take on a basking shark stranding that mentions how Basking sharks don’t attack people http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/07/monster_shark_tries_to_attack.html
2) “New bill would defend marriage from sharks” uses shark phobia to satirize the anti gay marriage crowd. It specifically mentions that only a few species of sharks have ever attacked people.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-bill-would-defend-marriage-from-sharks,2047/
Both of these are clearly humor pieces, and I think they’re both pretty funny. I also don’t think that the public perception of sharks is harmed in any way by them.
The “don’t trust a killer whale” video is also clearly a humor piece. I don’t think that the public perception of orcas is harmed by this video other than it perpetuates calling them “killer whales” (something the whale hugger crowd has been trying to do away with for some time).
This Nicorette commercial is different. The attempted humor in this commercial is that a person is so stressed by trying to quit smoking that he doesn’t notice a shark attacking him. The shark’s role in this commercial is to be a bloodthirsty killing machine and the humor is that the person doesn’t notice it happening.
Nicorette’s other recent commercials involve people who are trying to quit who encounter other people smoking in the workplace or while driving- two totally normal activities. This isn’t part of a series of commercials where absurd things happen, it’s part of a series of commercials where normal things happen.
Few (if any) people have never seen this stereotype of a shark before, but this commercial is certainly perpetuating it.
Shark Week’s portrayal of sharks was a big problem, but that doesn’t mean that the Nicorette commercial doesn’t matter.
I’m more concerned about the message the company sends to our young people by saying quitting smoking sucks than about the portrayal of a shark. I’m a teacher in school and I work with young people in many other areas in the community. It’s dissappointing when I am trying to train young people to not use such a disrespectful word only to hear it blurted out in front of any audience from 1 to 99 to hear and think is just fine to say in everyday speech. If I use that in front of my boss, she would be offended as she well should be. I would appreciate if you would show a little more taste and discretion when dealing with the public and children that you are certainly influencing. Thanks for your time. I hope you can put yourself in my shoes and many other parents in the world and help us by making an alteration to your terminology. Thanks
Ironic icon, pedantic comment
I agree with you David, but how to stop these commercials without triggering their other obvious purpose, viral marketing?
If people see this ad in the context of “look how wrong the science is in this ad”, I’m ok with that.
Sucks is a bad word now?
Clearly that killer whale video is a very important public service announcement.
I contacted Nicorette and received the following reply:
“Dear Mr. Shiffman,
We have received your e-mail on the Nicorette® website and appreciate your comments on our advertising efforts.
Since consumer reaction to any facet of our business is very important to us, we appreciate hearing from you. Comments such as yours personally acquaint us with individual consumers’ perceptions of our advertising efforts. Sincere, intelligent input allows us the opportunity to more critically evaluate our advertising messages while enabling us to view these endeavors from the viewpoints of our customers.
We regret any concerns that our advertising placement has caused you. Your message has been shared with those people involved in the creation of our advertising campaigns for consideration and possible future incorporation.
Again, we appreciate your contacting us and expressing your valid opinions.
Respectfully,
NAME OMITTED
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare”
I agree that the primary focus of shark conservation needs to be based on education and our ability to alter the public perception of these animals. But I think we also need to remain rational and level-headed in order to accomplish anything.
This commercial does cast a shark as a man-eater, but the premise comes off as so absurd that I doubt anyone will take it seriously. I felt the same way a few years back in that Mountain Dew ad where the guy rides a white shark like a bronco because he’s so extreme.
I’m glad this ad is generating discussion and debate, and I certainly agree that any conservation-minded person should be aware of it, but I’m wary of potential overreaction doing more harm then good.
“I’m wary of potential overreaction doing more harm then good.”
A valid concern, Joey. I tried to be careful not to overstate my criticisms. However, I didn’t want to avoid voicing them entirely.
Sounds like a horoscope-style form letter. They probably only have one, and the content’s gotta apply to everyone.
I actually got a coherent reply from Chicken of the Sea a few months ago, so not all businesses suck at replies, I guess.
Mr. Shiffman,
I think you are missing the point of the commercial. Being an ex-smoker I know the trouble quitting can be and how mind consuming trying to quit can be and that is what they are portraying here. I do not like the abuse of any animal that is why I joined the sights I have to help bring the bad things to light and try and stop it. But surly we cannot let our working to stop the abuse that we ourselves lose perspective and our since of humor. Any person with just a little bit of common sense would realize that a shark will not leave the water as portrayed in the commercial. We have got to laugh and enjoy or we shall lose our way.
This commercial is just plain stupid.
For the average macho idiot, so to say.
I care a lot about all living creatures – sharks included. Any thing we can all do to ensure they are better understood and protected, is a good thing.
However, when I watched this advert, I laughed! I thought it was rediculous! The shark didn’t look real, and it didn’t make me afraid of sharks by watching it – if anything, it made me more afraid of starting smoking, because the message was that the addiction can be so distracting, you actually miss something blatantly obvious – like having your arm chewed off!
The advert was too silly for me to take the sharks behaviour seriously, so I didn’t find it disrespectful to sharks. It appeared as though the company involved were trying to make light of a difficult situation that so many people face. Neither the shark character NOR the person character was a particularly accurate portrayal of what real sharks and people do in real life.
I agree, the language could have been better.
But, with sincere respect, I don’t feel like any sharks were harmed in the making of this advert.
The Shark in the commercial behaves so silly that it’s clearly not going to be considered seriously.
I’m not too worried about it wrongly portrait shark behavior.
I agree with you all – yes – its’ supposed to be funny, but comes over rather silly! Yes it’s hectic to give up smoking. But the actual sight of a shark hanging onto a man’s arm is something that causes me to go into a bit of shock!! or at least to think “Eeeeuuwww!” Many South Africans have experienced this and some weren’t lucky enough to survive. However, the attacks are so small compared to the amount of people that swim off our coast that our fear of these creatures is hugely overrated thanks to “Jaws” etc.
Yes I can understand ads are there to grab our attention, but can you imagine what it will do to kids? I am really not into any violent or potentially violent scenes on TV and would say they contribute to a messed up mentality globally!!
The ads OK and I don’t think too harmful to the shark until he notices the shark. Instead of trying to fight it off he should then gobble up a nicorette and the shark spits his arm out in disgust!
I dunno – just another angle that might be more in the shark’s favour!
This advert is a bit weird. understand the point their making but its still awkward. The shark looks so fake too. Doesn’t help. And yeah the shark is quite silly. Its more of a funny advert than one that’ll be seriously taken.
As addicting as nicotine can be, it is ridiculous to portray a great white shark jumping out of the water and biting someone. Even though I think the commerical was meant as joke, it is in a way offensive to the sharks because no sharks behave like the way it did in the commercial except in Jaws which gives sharks a terrible image. We need to be promoting shark conservation not showing how savage they are which they really are not since human flesh is undesirable to them to begin with.
sponges suck, dolphins blow, sharks bite, gastropods are twisted, urchins are testy, holothurians are dicks
damn beavers
Talk about mistaking cause and effect. Swing and a miss on this one Dave, big time.
Stupid-ass commercials don’t define culture, they reflect it. Sharks aren’t thought off as a terrifying menace because this commercial portrays them as such; because sharks are thought of as a menace, this commercial portrays them as a menace. What this commercial reveals is not that Nicorette misrepresents sharks but rather that y’all still haven’t gotten the message across. If there was no zeitgeist of the shark as menace, this commercial wouldn’t make any sense.
That’s what made the killer whale video so funny, it challenged the way most people viewed killer whales.
Was the commercial dumb? Probably. Did anyone watch it and think “you know, I used to think sharks were pretty cool, but now I think they crawl out of the water and gnaw of your arm”? Probably not. Are you wasting your time with pedantry instead of actually talking about the value of sharks? Yep.
Basically, your doing the exact same thing the concern troll above is doing, trying to create issues which detract from a larger discussion. Kids using bad words isn’t nearly as big a problem as pedantic twits forcing silence upon anyone who doesn’t adhere to their rigid dogma and lame shark commercials are symptoms of poor shark education, not causes.
“commercials don’t define culture, they reflect it. Sharks aren’t thought off as a terrifying menace because this commercial portrays them as such; because sharks are thought of as a menace, this commercial portrays them as a menace.”
Absolutely true. However, I never said that this commercial made people fear sharks who didn’t already feel that way, and I never said that it was a cause of poor shark education. I said that it “perpetuates stereotypes”. Stereotypes can’t be perpetuated if they don’t already exist.
Just because a stereotype already exists doesn’t mean that it isn’t wrong to perpetuate it.
I’m not trying to create issues which detract from a larger discussion, I’m discussing this commercial in the context of our efforts to educate the public about sharks.
I see pointing out false representations of sharks in the media as a PART of educating the public about sharks’ importance, not as something that distracts me from education efforts.
I love “Chicken of the Sea” – the name that is, not the whatever-it-is. If chickens were the equivalent of tuna, chicken raising would be a significantly more risky occupation than it is 🙂
Ok, I typically fall on the side of save the animals. but are you serious? this is just funny.
I email the company myself expressing my displeasure with their ad campaign. Below was their response:
Dear Mr. Noble,
We have received your e-mail on the Nicorette website and appreciate your comments on our advertising efforts.
Since consumer reaction to any facet of our business is very important to us, we appreciate hearing from you. Comments such as yours personally acquaint us with individual consumers’ perceptions of our advertising efforts. Sincere, intelligent input allows us the opportunity to more critically evaluate our advertising messages while enabling us to view these endeavors from the viewpoints of our customers.
Please be assured that it was not our intent to endorse a specific point of view to the public by way of our product advertising. As you are probably already aware, whether in magazines, on television or as part of a product’s label, advertising, along with its other intended purposes, is used to educate the public by introducing products and their benefits by getting consumer’s attention.
We regret any concerns that our advertising placement has caused you. Your message has been shared with those people involved in the creation of our advertising campaigns for consideration and possible future incorporation.
Again, we appreciate your contacting us and expressing your valid opinions.
Respectfully,
Gimena
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
Case # 3493485
Whether or not sharks act this way in reality is not the point when you are dealing with one thing…kids watching this commercial….I’m sure my kids are not the only ones who see this and become afraid to go to the beach, an event they LOVED in the past. The makers of this commercial where idiotic, what were they thinking? They feature a man being attacked by a shark (right as beach weather is starting), and don’t think it will affect kids? Seriously, it’s not rocket science. This commercial should be removed from the air immediatley. And yes, I have called the company.
This kind of commercial does not help shark conservation efforts in any way. I think that cigarretes are much dangerous for humans than sharks. So we have to keep fighting smoking and helping shark conservation. Help us to save the sharks and the marine life at all.
I am SO appalled at this very tacky ad campaign! Anyone brought up with nice manners would find this commercial offensive! I am not a prude, but the mere sound of someone using the word “sucks” is a turn off to me! Glad I quit 27 years ago, b/c I would not be impressed with your product!!!
You know what’s appalling? People who try to enforce their Victorian values on the rest of society.
This is unfortunate evidence of how incredibly difficult it is to avoid offending somebody.
“Nicorette is a great product, but it simply isn’t necessary to perpetuate fears about sharks to sell gum that helps people quit smoking. You can help people without hurting sharks.”
I hope I have stumbled upon a satire site, because this is so palpably ridiculous, it would pain me to think someone could emit those words without recognizing the ludicrous cast of the whole fabricated issue.
I have lost a lot of respect for marine biology, and am convinced, more than ever, that sharks are lethal killing machines who should be ruthlessly exterminated. Not only do they mangle people in feeding frenzies, but they hypnotize marine enthusiasts, and convince them to join the apocalyptic legion of killjoys who battle against fun and innocent symbolism all over the world.