Shock new campaign about kids' sport depicts children smoking
A new ad campaign about the health risks of tackle football has made its point with images of children smoking.
The Concussion Legacy Foundation in the US recently issued the campaign, which aims to discourage parents from letting their children play the contact sport in order to lessen the risk of brain disease in the future.
The campaign depicts young children smoking, claiming football is just as bad.
The 30-second clip was released by the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) and shows young boys playing a game of NFL, before breaking to half time where the coach is seen handing the kids cigarettes.
Although obviously fake, the image of a line of young boys puffing cigarette smoke at the camera is an eyebrow-raising one.
"Tackle football is like smoking," a boy says in voice-over.
"The younger I start, the longer I'm exposed to danger.
"You wouldn't let me smoke. When should I start tackling?"
The CLF also released a behind the scenes clip, where the co-founder Chris Nowlinski claims playing youth tackle football and developing CTE is correlated in a very similar way to smoking and developing lung cancer.
CLF
"Tackle football is really a man's game, and it's incredibly dangerous to the developing brain," Nowlinksi says.
"We're trying to help parents visualise that those two things are equally bad: Letting your kid smoke and letting your kid play tackle football are both bad ideas."
The video was met with praise on the foundation's Instagram, with many followers commenting on its power.
"Nicely done!" wrote one person.
"Bold. Love it!" wrote another.
"Such an important message. Congratulations on the study as well!" another commenter said.
The foundation advises that 14 is a a safe age for kids to start playing tackle football.
