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In a provocative ad campaign for non-profit organisation Lung Cancer Alliance USA, features controversial statements declaring that hipsters, cat lovers, crazy old aunts, the smug, genetically privileged “deserve to die”.
But in fine print, the ads write: “…If they have lung cancer. Many people believe that if you have lung cancer you did something to deserve it. It sounds absurd, but it’s true. Lung cancer doesn’t discriminate and neither should you. Help put an end to the stigma and the disease.”
The ads created by Laughlin Constable were meant to be polarizing, to breakdown the stigma barrier and promote awareness on the matter.
According to Lung Cancer Alliance, the biggest obstacle in lung cancer survival has been “the common misconception that those who suffer or die from lung cancer deserve their disease because they brought it upon themselves”.
“We relied on the extreme reactions to start the conversation about the absurdity that certain people may actually deserve to die,” Denise Kohnke, Senior Vice President for Strategy at Laughlin Constable, said in a statement.
“Every ‘type’ we featured had a real, pre-existing bias… That’s why the backlash often was intense and personal.”
[via No One Deserves To Die Of Lung Cancer]