Saturday, December 22, 2007

Ethical Dilemma: Poll Smoking

Before I head off, I've decided to put up a little opinion poll over on the right side of the page, right under my picture. I'd appreciate it if you took two seconds and voted on it. But before you do, read on for the full story:

One of my smoker friends bought a pack of Camels the other day that came in one of their new "art packs". Apparently Camel has opened their marketing doors to a variety of different artists lending their talents to the package design of Camel cigarettes. Anyway, on the package there was a little advertisement to submit your own pack designs, so my friend told me I should give it a shot. And to be honest I'm sort of having an ethical dilemma over this.

I think people always ask themself questions like this when they decide to pursue some sort of creative field that lends itself to mass communication; questions that ask if he'd help create things that help sell products that promote things he has some moral objections to, or to a product that leads to the death of hundreds of thousands of people every year, in this case. I'm not a smoker, and to be blunt I happen to think it's a pretty retarded habit to pick up, but on the other side of the coin I respect a person's right to choose to smoke addictive and harmful materials, and to enjoy them to their fullest. So is it wrong to create a simple illustration to go on a pack of cigarettes (that might kill someone, but will no doubt be sold, art pack or not), in an attempt to further one's career as an artist? Is that what they mean when they say "selling out"?

I dunno, I'm a little stumped on this one. Granted, the point may very well become moot because there's a very high likelihood that something I draw won't get picked to go on a pack of cigarettes, even if I did decide to give it a shot. But it's a question worth asking, hypothetical or not. Later (for real this time)

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