According to a spot on NPR, this ad particularly irritated Philip Morris. Although tobacco companies agreed to pay for such anti-tobacco campaigns, they required that these campaigns NOT vilify tobacco companies, and they think this ad does. The ad designers pointed out that campaigns that focus on the dangers of tobacco lung cancer, heart disease, etc. That is the knowledge of the health risks of tobacco does not promote wise decisions. Consequently, these ads have taken a different tack.
Teenagers are by nature eager to rebel, so the designers looked for ways to tap into that rebellion.
Thus they are trying to counteract the glamorization of smoking by discrediting the source of those claims rather than just focusing on the claims. Establishing the credibility of the source is an ancient means of persuasion. Solomon does so at the very onset of his book of Proverbs. As we read through Proverbs this quarter, we may argue with the meaning of this phrase or struggle with the relevance of that text, but we must all agree on the centrality of our pursuit of understanding. Several times Solomon states that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or knowledge.