Over 21% of American adults use some form of tobacco every day. Although smoking and tobacco use has steadily declined in the last decade, the CDC has released new anti-smoking ads to shock viewers. They aim to change people's minds about smoking and highlight the effects that tobacco use can have on the user and those in the user's life.
"I don't want anyone to go through what I'm going through," narrates a lady named Terrie. She is sitting in a hospital bed as her words are spoken, and then the screen goes black. She was filmed a few days before she passed away from oral and throat cancer at age 53, reports USA Today.
The new ads "highlight illnesses and suffering caused by smoking that people don't commonly associate with cigarette use," said CDC Director Tom Frieden in a statement to Business Insider. "Smokers have told us these ads help them quit by showing what it’s like to live every day with disability and disfigurement from smoking."
The ads can be viewed on the CDC's website. They will air through the TV nationwide beginning July 7th.