I saw an interesting ad the other day. It was a full-page ad for electronic cigarettes in Esquire. The ad itself was pretty simple. A ruffled up, macho guy in his thirties sat in a car. He held one of these electronic cigarettes with a blue tip, and was blowing dim smoke out of the corner of his mouth. The title read: "Take back your freedom".

I thought it was so bad. I literally cringed. It was so Americana. They were making smoking into a case of personal freedom. In a time when every smoker in the world will agree unanimously that nicotine addiction is not a case of individuality and personal freedom.

Then again, I don't smoke. Some of my friends do. Most of my friends smoke a couple cigarettes a week, and some smoke daily. I remember a period when I got pretty drunk at a party, and decided to smoke a couple cigarettes (because i wanted to impress a girl). Yeah, pretty much a stupid decision, considering the fact that I didn't even impress her. Anyway once my smoking virginity was gone, I took to asking to bum a cigarette at parties and such. 

This went on for a month or so, until a good friend of mine finally sat me down at a party. He was very clear with me. He said I had to cut this s*** out, "it's not fun once you get addicted". Unfortunately I was in too good of a mood, and blew it off.

The day after I thought about his position. He's been smoking for three years. He meant it. He has tried pretty much every alternative, and now mostly smoke an electronic cigarette.

I cut the s*** out pretty much instantly. I understood the process of becoming a regular smoker, and that I was on my way there too. I experienced it all first-hand, which made me think around the meaning behind the slogan in the ad.

Right after my initial reaction (cringing) of the ad, I understood it. This ad works, because most regular smokers acknowledge that it's bad for you, yet they fight it off. Smoking is okay because it's "a way to tackle stress", "It's me-time", "It clears my head". Too be fair, it probably feels like that too. Everytime you go out to take a cigarette, It's a refill of nicotine. You can relax again.

Just think about this whole "mindset" that has been planted within the tobacco industry. This mindset of personal freedom, of a rock n' roll lifestyle, hell, even yolo. The electronic cigarettes are adapting, and borrowing this whole lifestyle to represent their healthier option.

It's all just rather intersting I think.