The Real Cost of the Real Cost

We’ve all seen the ads: a hulking metal monster towering over a young actor, all sharp edges and glinting blades. At first glance, the figure is nearly identical to a Transformer, maybe a robot futuristic alien from the latest sci-fi blockbuster. “Coming summer 2024: Blade Man, showing in theaters near you!” But all of these guesses are far off from the truth. What the steel conglomerate actually represents are the harmful metals ingested when you vape, helpfully explained by the actor with the catchphrase, “That’s metal in your lungs!” 

This ad is only one of many from the Real Cost campaign, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s advertisements aimed at young adults to teach them the dangers of tobacco use in all its forms. The target of this particular ad is vaping, an alternative form of smoking where liquid, usually containing nicotine, is heated inside the pen and turned into an aerosol, which the user inhales.   

However, if you look up these ads, you would find them re-uploaded onto YouTube with titles like, “the annoying ass metal monsters vape ad,” and Reddit posts titled, “ThAt’S mEtAl…iN yOuR lUnGs!” Even more concerning are the comments under these posts, declaring users’ distaste for the ads and mocking them for their ineffectivity. Some comments read, “That metal monster looks…awesome. What’s so bad about vaping if you can create something as cool as that?” and “Those ads were always so in your face…It was about ostracizing and spitting vitriol toward smokers.” 

These are valid criticisms. A “scary” monster is a laughable symbol for potential lung disease and respiratory problems down the line, and young people are right to point it out. What’s not funny are the all-too-real consequences of vaping, but there has to be a way to spread that information without shaming anyone, downplaying the health effects, or spending thousands of dollars on these ads only for them to be mocked and ignored. 

The real problem lies with the target of the ads. Lecturing at teenagers and telling them they are in the wrong is in no way the right approach to solving this issue. I was curious as to how prevalent vaping was and how it affected local teens, so I sat down with Athens High School (AHS) principal, Chad Springer. Springer is no newbie to the public education system and has personally witnessed the rise of vaping among his students since 2017. 

When asked about the general attitude of AHS students toward vaping, Springer said, “It's a mixed bag. You have some students who are absolutely against it, and some students who think that it's a harmless device… It's really mixed bag, because they do see it as a harmless device because it doesn't necessarily have the tar in it, but it's not necessarily having the full education on the dangers of it.” 

That’s the key to preventing smoking in young people is, at least in Springer’s eyes: education. Unlike many high schools in the region, AHS does not have any vape detectors installed around the school but takes the educational route instead. 

When asked the reason behind the high numbers of teens vaping in AHS, Springer said, “It’s mainly a coping mechanism from the ones I’ve talked to…Their parents consume or their friends consume and that’s how they first tried it…When you have flavors such as kiwi lime and strawberry bubblegum, you do have to question who is the market?” 

And thatis the million-dollar question–who is the market? According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2.55 million middle and high schoolers in the United States reported E-cigarette use within the last 30 days at the time of the study. As Springer said, with flavors that appear to be garnered toward young people, it’s not hard to put two and two together that no matter what the legal age for substance usage is, the target demographic is most likely teenagers looking for an outlet. No amount of FDA ad campaigns or metal, Transformers-esque monsters will change that. 

It’s also not as though there is a lack of supply for those looking for nicotine products. Within a one-mile radius of Ohio University, there are nine shops that sell vape and tobacco products, not including gas stations that also sell them. Those in the know are aware of who to go to if someone underage is interested in buying. In our interview, Springer said that students can obtain vape products through of-age friends, and college students can often get their hands on fake IDs, which clerks at local vape and tobacco stores say are harder to identify these days, a fact confirmed by Alex Schwartz, general manager of the Silver Serpent Smoke Shop on Court Street. “Kids have pretty good fake IDs,” he said. Assistant manager Brock Roush added, “You also have to consider with the large amount of out of state students coming into town, it’s really hard to distinguish an ID from like, say, Arizona.” Schwartz and Roush also reported an estimate of 500 vape products being sold per week from all three Silver Serpent Exotic Gifts storefronts. 

Clearly, young people’s use of vape products is not on the decline, so where can we turn now? It is evident that no amount of federal anti-vape ads can effectively get through to students. If not those, then what can? In Springer’s eyes: education. “Our proactive is education,” he said. Unlike many high schools in the region, AHS does not have any vape detectors installed around the school due to their cost and unreliable nature but takes the educational route instead. Here, he referenced classes AHS held in 2017 that provided students and parents alike with information sessions about the basics of vape products and the damage they can have on still-developing brains. The sessions were reportedly very successful and aided in keeping the conversation around vape usage amongst teens going, while also opening parents’ eyes to the new world of tobacco products, many of which they had been entirely unaware of. 

In regards to ad campaigns like the Real Cost, I think Springer put it best. In reference to Nancy Reagan’s infamous “Just Say No” campaign he said, “It’s more comprehensive than just having this pledge to ‘just say no.’ So it’s a start, these ad campaigns…It puts thoughts into adults’ minds.” I wholeheartedly agree, these ads are a start, but they are not enough. They do not appeal to teenagers, the demographic they are supposedly trying to help, leaving us in a weird limbo where time and money are being spent on these ad campaigns that span across multiple media platforms, without knowing whether or not they actually work. Without actual means of educating the public about vaping and its consequences in place, we might as well not address the issue at all.