Presidential Hopeful Ad shows Campaign Manager Smoking

Presidential Hopeful Ad shows Campaign Manager Smoking
Presidential hopeful Herman Cain has used smoking to gain some attention. His campaign manager is shown smoking in a recent campaign ad that went viral getting over one million views.

Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of communications at George Mason University commented on the unusual video. “The most important thing to appreciate about viral videos is they really reduce the power of traditional media gatekeepers. The decisions of what the public could see used to be in the control of TV executives. The Web gives people the ability to send messages horizontally. You see something you like, you put it on YouTube.”

Although The GOP candidate has shown a rise in popularity because of the ad, the ramifications of a pro-smoking ad may be an overall negative. The general public recognizes the dangers of smoking and the dangers of second hand smoke. A small subset of the population who smokes and is not trying to quit may applaud the ad as their freedoms are being eroded by anti-smoking laws passed around the country, however many Americans see the right to breathe clean air superseding the right to smoke wherever you want.

Source: The Washington Post
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