16 Parallels Between TV & Smoking

You know what I noticed last weekend? Watching TV is just like smoking.

The activities are parallel, the industries are parallel, and I think their histories—once fully written—will be parallel.

So many parallels, it’s freaky.

To wit, fill in the blanks with either “watching TV” or “smoking.” Either one. Ready, go:

• ______ is social.
• ______ is addictive.
• ______ is bad for you.
• People define their social groups based on their ______ preferences.
• People build their schedules around ______.
• At first, people thought ______ might be good for you.
• People now realize ______ might not be as good for you as they had once thought.
• Only industry insiders would suggest with a straight face that ______ is good for you.
• Dang, that ______ industry is strong!
• Unregulated advertising related to ______ is brazen and in some cases, frankly inappropriate.
• Children who love ______ are so numerous that they represent their own target market.
• In many circles, not _______ automatically means you’re not cool.
• There are lots of niche providers who cater to people ______, but really, most people consume products from the same few manufacturers.
• The industry related to ______ does not have a history of meaningful self-regulation.
• Good luck getting people to change their ______ habits!

And the big one…

• When it comes to _______, we just can’t help ourselves. It’s not until we get an infusion of common sense by some crusader—often in the form of a painful and unpopular advice that threatens to infringe upon our ability to enjoy ourselves—are we able to kick the habit… which all along, we knew we should kick.

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Tagged as: fail, smoking, tv