Using Guilt

In this above the influence ad we see various scenes of a young boy who has reappearing burn marks on his body. The music throughout the ad has a low pitch making it sound quite serious and solemn. Towards the end of the ad we see the little boy standing outside of his sisters bedroom where she is smoking marijuana with her friend. Above the influence is trying to illustrate how smoking marijuana not only affects the smoker but also impacts the people around them. They are using guilt to get people to stop smoking. This works because in our society we tend to give the responsibility of being a good role model to older siblings. Through the use of the burn marks on the boy's body they suggest that the older sister is harming her little brother by smoking. When she is looking at him towards the end of the ad, she looks guilty and ashamed. Since he is so young, the audience feels sympathetic towards him because he is being harmed by her smoking. This is supposed to generate feelings of guilt in viewers who smoke marijuana, causing them to stop smoking to not only benefit themselves but also those around them.