Table 2.

Major themes within oppositional and supportive comments.

Themes		Comments
Oppositional comment themes
	Appropriateness (role of government)
		The bottom line is that smoking is legal. If it is legal, then leave people alone. If people choose to ignore the health risks, then that is their business. Non-smokers should stop trying to control the behavior of others- smokers are no longer allowed to smoke indoors, near doorways, in bars, in public parks, etc. It used to be that, when a person was an adult, then he/she was in charge of his/her own actions. Now the Nanny State wants to control our actions. Liberty, do we even remember what the word means?
		What is really scary is the government interfering with peoples lives I read a book on this It was called The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
		People smoking is not the govt's business. if people smoke and get sick that is their problem and they can pay for the consequences.
		More big government. Why do we have to pay for this. Get the government out of our every day life,
	Allocation
		I think diabetes and obesity are a much bigger and more fatal problem right now. Smoking can cause weight loss :-)
		And just WHEN will we be seeing the same type anti-alcohol use billboards??? Alcohol kills more innocent people than tobacco and drugs COMBINED!!!
		this is all fine and dandy, when are they going to show cancer stricken patients dying in their last days from skin cancer from to much time in tanning booths
		What marketing effort is the CDC doing to reduce the damage alcohol is doing to our society?
	Evidence
		I know people who have smoked 50+ years and none of this stuff has ever happened to them. And they are still very healthy people! These commercials are a tad dramatic.
		How odd that the number of smokers has decreased (big-time), but people still get cancer (big-time). Matter of fact, everyone I have known to get cancer never smoked a cigarette in their lives. When are people going to figure out that we are going to die, no matter what we do?
		And how many smokers die of just old age?
		Buerger's Disease is very rare in the US and is more common in the middle and far east. I wish they would stop trying to buffalo people!
	Effectiveness
		Everyone in the USA has known that smoking is hazardous to your health since the 1960s at least.
		People are not going to stop smoking just because of commercials, pictures, or warning labels. Even watching a family member die due to lung disease or cancer doesn't seem to convince people smoking is bad.
		If all this is aimed at keeping young people from smoking it isn't going to work. Young people just don't have the ability to care about what might happen to them when they are old (30 is old to them). At least have the good sense to show what it does to their teeth and skin. Something that they care about now. Now is all young people care about.
		Only the person that smokes, can make the decision to quit..NONE ELSE, can convince them to quit, NOT ADS,,NOT Family or friends or strangers..ONLY the FEAR in their own souls can make them quit!!!
Supportive comment themes
	Personal stories
		I had my last cigarette during my first heart attack in 1991. Gained a bunch of weight but I'm still kickin' in 2012.
		My mother died recently of congestive heart failure brought on by over 60 years of smoking. When My wife and I started cleaning her house for sale. It took over 4 weeks to just clean the tar and nicotine from the walls, ceilings, appliances, etc. Still didn't get it all. Once white curtains were dark yellow/brown. Her lungs had to look the same way. Bless you all.
		My dad has stopped smoking after smoking for 30+ years and I could not be any happier that he has.
	Support for quitting/anti-tobacco
		Good luck to anyone who is trying to stop wish you nothing but the best!
		People stop Smoking !
		I can't believe in this day and age people still smoke....
	Reactions to ad content
		I just saw the commercial with Terrie yesterday....I am still haunted. The scary and sad thing is quitting is so very hard and you never think things like that will happen to YOU! This PSA was probably one of the "best" I have ever seen.....I hope it helps a lot of people.
		These commercials are very effective. I quit over ten years ago, but if I had not, these new anti-smoking commercial would definitely make me want to.
		Very powerful! Thumbs up!