In yet another sign of the power of cat videos, an ad warning young smokers about the health dangers of secondhand smoke for their cats and featuring some of the biggest Internet cat video stars is creating quite a buzz.
The 30-second ad aired on television during the Grammy Awards and became an instant hit. Soon the alarmist hashtag #CATmageddon was trending on Twitter.
"If I still smoked, this would make me quit," tweeted @alswrite.
The anti-tobacco group, Truth Initiative, is behind the edgy ad campaign, which uses images of famous cats such as Shark Cat (a cat in a shark costume riding a roomba) and Pirate Cat (a cat in, you guessed it, a pirate costume). A siren blares in the background as these words pop up on screen: "Cats are twice as likely to get cancer if their owner smokes." The ad also warns: "Smoking = no cats = no cat videos."
If that doesn't cause your back to arch up, what will?
The ad finishes by urging viewers to "Be the generation that ends smoking," and the command: "Prevent #CATMAGEDDON."
Those who work with people trying to quit smoking applauded the ad's unusual approach to reaching teens.
