Anti-Drug Advertisements

I don't watch a lot of TV, but the other day I was watching this show on TLC where they remodel somebody's home in three days, and I got hooked. They had a team of about 8 people working on this house, and the stuff they accomplished was just amazing.

But that's not why I'm writing this blog. I'm writing it because of two commercials I saw. They're both anti-drug commericals I saw in Michigan: they might only be local, but they might be nation-wide. At any rate, they're both great.

The first was hilarious. A goofy-looking young teenager, probably 12 or 13, comes home and sees his father in the foyer of the house. His dad has set up an information table in their home: on it are colored plastic models of organs, like you see in science classrooms. One is the female reproductive system, the other is an ovary. The father begins to talk:

"Son," he says, "I think it's about time we had a conversation."

The son looks at the table again. This time he sees all the books. One is titled "What mommy and daddy do." Another is titled, "Waking Up Wet" and has a charactericature of a kid pulling sheets up with a terrified expression on his face.

"Your body is going through changes," the father says. "Some of them might be confusing for you."

The teenager's eyes grow wide.

"Son, I think it's time we talked about sex."

The teenager's face drops in terror.

"Or..." the father says, "We can talk about drugs."

"Yeah yeah, let's talk about drugs," the kid quickly says.

A black screen comes up with the words:
There's no wrong way to talk to your kids about drugs."

Then I saw another commerical that is absolutely haunting. It's a cute, black haired little boy, about 4 or 5. He's sitting on the edge of a bench table in a school's cafeteria. He begins singing a nursery rhyme, only the words are different. He sings:

Baa baa black sheep, have you any "e",
Yes sir, yes sir, first hit's free."

He then goes on to recite an entire modified rhyme, with references to dealers and baggies and all this stuff. He clearly doesn't know what he's saying, but he knows every word and is reciting it with gusto. Then the words flash up:

What do your kids know about drugs?
"It's never too early to start talking to your kids about drugs."

Gave me the heebie jeebies. If anyone finds these actual commerical online, let me know. They're worth checking out.