Anti-smoking organization Tobacco Free Florida recently released a local TV spot featuring a fake FPS title, which for all intents and purposes, may as well be titled Haylo, created by little-known developer Spungie. The ad shows the unwisely unhelmeted hero laying waste to a squadron of robo-baddies, then lighting up a moke-moke, which quickly drains his health, leaving him very dead in the enemy stronghold.
Gaming news site GameCouch recently interviewed the ad's creators, who explained that the fake game theme was chosen to grasp the attention of the coveted 11-17-year-old demographic. It's certainly not the least clever anti-smoking PSA we've ever seen, though we never knew that smoking a cigarette led to immediate death. They should really put that on a warning label or something.
Reader Comments (85)
Posted: Jun 29th 2008 7:34PM Vegeta has a ps3 said
.....lol what? I don't think that soldier is fit for combat if one smoke automatically kills him. And yeah it's like they just took a level from Halo and changed it up a bit.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 7:36PM Peter Moore said
I just saw this on the teevees last night. Heh...
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 7:37PM Peter Moore said
You know what... I think you should smoke.
(It kills people instantly, like in this ad, right?)
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(It kills people instantly, like in this ad, right?)
Posted: Jun 29th 2008 11:12PM (Unverified) said
I gotta agree with you on all count my fellow Gator. Funny this story is on Joystiq today as the commercial ran like 8 times during my viewing of Ace Ventura on the Cartoon Network. I mentioned to my video game making brother how the production values for it look quite good for just a state tobacco free ad.
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Posted: Jun 30th 2008 7:19AM (Unverified) said
The sound effects are "beep beep", "pew pew" and "woooosh". This was obviously made with the 17-34 demographic in mind.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 7:42PM LaughingTarget said
That was a slim. What killed him was his masculinity quickly vacating his body.
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Posted: Jun 30th 2008 8:24AM xGeneral DEATHxDEETH82 said
Clowing up your own base has never been so much fun.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 7:51PM RebelWithACause said
You know what.. I think you should visit this website.
It might help you before you embarrass yourself in front of teh interwebz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
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It might help you before you embarrass yourself in front of teh interwebz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:15PM Peter Moore said
Sarcasm tends to be more effective when it's actually witty.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:17PM (Unverified) said
Yeah...cause it's easy to distinguish sarcasm in text.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:18PM (Unverified) said
Okay so not the best example...since the sarcasm is obvious there..but you know what I mean.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:53PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, because you'll live longer in the middle of the warzone.
Besides, Solid Snake already taught us that smoking improves aim and lets us see the infrared beams. So it's too late... light 'em up kids!
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Besides, Solid Snake already taught us that smoking improves aim and lets us see the infrared beams. So it's too late... light 'em up kids!
Posted: Jun 29th 2008 9:15PM (Unverified) said
Bu…but Mc Hamster says is okay to smoke and burn yourself with the cigarette.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:33PM (Unverified) said
I dunno, it looks more like Republic Commando to me. Witness the robotic enemies and the rapid-fire laser rifle.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:35PM RebelWithACause said
Thank you Jim Halpert not only do you have the best user name, but you also have a sense of humor.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:41PM (Unverified) said
So, it's based off of Halo, which is rated "M" for 17+, in order to bring in the much desired 11-17 demographic? Yeah, no way this could possibly backfire.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 9:26PM (Unverified) said
There's no living things dying, so it's either rated T, or it's a German game.
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Posted: Jun 30th 2008 1:40AM (Unverified) said
And yet it seems like no day passes where someone doesn't complain about all the 12-year olds online in Halo 3.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:52PM The Last Metroid said
The same way Bender smokes a cigar underwater.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:49PM HumanNature said
and mgs games taught me cigs can help you sneak into military buildings
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:52PM (Unverified) said
Would anybody seriously stop smoking because of this? At least do it properly and scare them with impotency.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:54PM (Unverified) said
Although its a YouTube vid (read: compressed as hell), that game looks a helluva lot better than an helluva lotta FPS games released in the past few years. I'd totally play that.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 9:18PM (Unverified) said
Me too but the first thing I would do in the game would be taking the cigarettes out of my inventory.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:56PM (Unverified) said
It's not the cigarette that killed him. He died because he had to play the Halo 2 campaign.
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Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:57PM falcomadol said
Odd that they would choose to copy an M rated game franchise to appeal to an 11-17 demographic.
And only girls smoke. Seriously, if you're a guy, man up and quit, you Nancy boy.
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And only girls smoke. Seriously, if you're a guy, man up and quit, you Nancy boy.
Posted: Jun 29th 2008 9:00PM Peter Moore said
Saying "FIRST!!1" is humor? Perhaps in the same way Epic Movie is a parody movie. You're doing the same exact thing you're allegedly making fun of except a bit more exaggerated.
THAT'S NOT FUNNY. I'd go as far as saying it's more annoying than the genuine "first"-ies, as you think you're the fucking bees knees and your wit is unsurpassed.
You're just some fucking random nobody on the internet who's bad at making a joke and can't seem to accept that fact.
You're not just an annoying and unfunny person anymore, no, you're now an annoying and unfunny douche.
Welcome to the fucking internet.
Reply
THAT'S NOT FUNNY. I'd go as far as saying it's more annoying than the genuine "first"-ies, as you think you're the fucking bees knees and your wit is unsurpassed.
You're just some fucking random nobody on the internet who's bad at making a joke and can't seem to accept that fact.
You're not just an annoying and unfunny person anymore, no, you're now an annoying and unfunny douche.
Welcome to the fucking internet.
Posted: Jun 29th 2008 9:06PM Peter Moore said
I know, right?
Like all the lasers and explosions and the generic desert-base area.
Oh! And the flashing text that says "LEVEL COMPLETE" and the weird beeping noise.
Yeah, ten times better than half of all games EVER.
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Like all the lasers and explosions and the generic desert-base area.
Oh! And the flashing text that says "LEVEL COMPLETE" and the weird beeping noise.
Yeah, ten times better than half of all games EVER.
Posted: Jun 29th 2008 10:56PM Peter Moore said
If I knew you were right, I would've AGREED with you.
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