So, remember the anti-weed ad with the talking dog? Remember how it made you wish you had the number to that girl's dealer? Why can't Above the Influence create an ad that is anything but unintentionally hilarious?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I have seen their latest offering, and it made me laugh. I thought, the whole way through, that they must be going after all drugs, and specifically alcohol. Nope, weed.
Seriously, watch this.
Now, I'm going to attack each of these goofy vignettes one by one. What follows is a transcript directly from the website.
Scene #1: (Guitar music begins. A teenage boy with dark hair is shown standing in the middle of what appears to be a room decorated for a young girl.)
Boy #1: "I stole from my little sister"(He exclaims in a happy voice.)
I smoked a lot of weed, and I never had to steal from anybody to feed my habit. It's like that scene in Half-Baked, where Dave Chappelle goes to rehab for weed and Bob Sagat stands up and yells, "Weed!? I sucked dick for coke! You ever suck dick for weed?"
I have never, and will never, need weed bad enough to steal, or suck dick.
Scene #2: (Scene changes, guitar music continues. A teenage girl is shown placing her school report card on the kitchen’s refrigerator door for display.)
Girl #1: "I got straight D's"(She brags with a smile on her face.)
This one I can't really hate. Kids in high school shouldn't be smoking weed. Nobody should until they're legally adults. However, I can say that I started smoking weed my freshman year in college. I was stoned most days and nights my first semester and I still got a 3.8 GPA.
Scene #3: (Scene changes. A teenage boy with blonde hair is shown slouching in his bed in a half-upright position.)
Boy #2: "I left my girlfriend 27 messages last night."(He confidently explains.)
This is more a drunk behavior than a stoner behavior. I mean, I suppose somebody could call a girlfriend 27 times in a night while high, but only if she works for Domino's.
Scene #4: (Scene changes. A teenage girl stands over her mother -- who is sitting in front of a mirror, sorrowfully gazing – the girl smiles)
Girl #2: "I made my mother cry"(She says proudly.)
Another that I suppose is a possibility, albeit a hilariously sappy one. However, I think if my mom had caught me with weed in high school, they would have been tears of rage. As it is, I've smoked weed with my mother, so maybe not.
Scene #5: (Scene changes and speeds-up into fast forward. A teenage boy is shown waking up on a couch after what appears to be a party where he was intoxicated. As the scene continues in fast forward motion, people draw a mustache and uni-brow on his face, and put cheese curls in his nose as a prank. They write "DORK" on his forehead and "I (heart) Sara" on his cheek. The people disappear. He opens his eyes and looks at the camera.)
Boy #3: "I let people draw on me."(He exclaims happily with a smile.)
Another drunk behavior. I can guarantee that if someone started drawing on me during a weed nap, I'd wake the fuck up. As it is, weed makes me an insomniac.
Scene #6: (Scene changes. There is a guy sitting in the drivers seat in his car, parked in front of a garage.)
Boy #4: "I ditched my friends and they had to find their own way home."(He says in a very excited and happy voice; he smiles and nods approvingly as the scene fades away.)
Again, never ever happened to me. That's more of a sign of a dickhead than a stoner, and usually dickhead is a state independent of any cannabinoids in your system.
Scene #6: (Scene fades away. Screenshots of all six smiley, self-confident, and proud teenagers flash by. The overall tone is clearly sarcastic.)
TEXT: "What has weed done for you?"
Only given me some of my fondest memories of hanging out with friends and laughing hysterically at commercials like this while we played Settlers of Catan. But, you know, other than that...
Trying to be funny is the worst thing the propagandists ever did. They should have stuck with being alarmist.