California is launching a new campaign to combat nicotine addiction among young adults. It's called "Not Your Lab Rat," and it's not subtle.
[AMBI - sound from ad: "You're not just their customer, you're their lab rat."]
The ads look like something out of a SAW movie. Young people are shown strapped to chairs and fitted with devices forcing nicotine into their bodies.
It's funded by $5.2 million from California's settlement with Juul, the e-cigarette company sued for targeting minors with its marketing.
Julie Lautsch is with the California Tobacco Prevention Program.
"One of the things that we heard from young people when we were developing this campaign is that the visuals had to be arresting and compelling enough to interrupt the endless scrolling that young people do on their phones."
The campaign targets 18 to 24 year olds, the age group with the highest vaping rates. But the message resonates with younger audiences too.
Rylee is 14. Aleks is 15. Both vape or recently quit. After watching, Rylee said she thinks the ads could be a wakeup call.
"To somebody who's struggling with this addiction and they watch this ad, they're going to find a lot of similarities in what they're feeling and it might just wake up something inside of them."
Aleks quit vaping after getting pneumonia. She said the ads hit close to home.
"I noticed when I was vaping, my depression got a lot worse. And the fact that it ends into depression, it really ties in because it does end up getting worse. Your anxiety does end up getting worse. It makes things a lot worse"
The Not Your Lab Rat ads will run through the end of 2026.