Polonoid syndrome

Anti-tobacco commercial removed from air in UK

The search for polonium-210 across the UK, which has been ongoing for more than a week, has already led to the fact that the very name of this rare chemical element may fall into the category of taboo vocabulary. Already now, officials are trying not to mention him again, even if they are not talking about the fate of retired security officer Alexander Litvinenko. Last Sunday, the United Kingdom's Department of Health decided not even to take an unprecedented step - it adjusted plans for a long-prepared national anti-smoking advertising campaign. Some videos were taken off the air at the last moment only on the grounds that the notorious polonium was mentioned among the harmful chemical elements contained in tobacco smoke.

The new anti-tobacco campaign “Smoke is Poison”, prepared on the initiative and with the financial support of the Ministry of Health, was supposed to start on the weekend and become a massive attack on smokers through television, radio, press and outdoor advertising. Among its main goals is the creation of a stable stereotype in public opinion: a place where people smoke is poisoned by definition. Naturally, the authors of the social videos did not stoop to mentioning the notorious drop of nicotine, which is dangerous for every horse. The creative move involved a complete chemical analysis and “dissection” of the components of tobacco smoke in order to show that almost every element contained in it poses a health threat.

The script plan, naturally, was written long before Mr. Litvinenko set foot on the threshold of the Itsu sushi bar, and the authors did not at all pursue the goal of reminding television viewers several times a day about the mysterious death of an emigrant from Russia and the traces left by either himself, or his poisoners throughout London. The chain of meaning that was built was also quite unpleasant, but completely different. The commercial was supposed to prove that polonium particles contained in cigarette smoke gradually accumulate in the larynx and lungs of the smoker, and, referring to a certain study, declare: in a year, a person who smokes more than one and a half packs daily is exposed to radiation exposure comparable to spending 300 X-ray examinations of the chest. Quite apolitical medical propaganda without the slightest hint of spy stories.

But the latest TV news, apparently, seemed to British Health Minister Caroline Flint worse than advertising, and she considered it best not to scare her compatriots once again by mentioning polonium. And together with the ideologists of the advertising campaign from the Cancer Research UK charity foundation, she decided to hold off on propaganda. Foundation spokeswoman Sira Hayom said that "in light of recent events and after consultation with the Ministry of Health, it has been decided not to air the video that mentions polonium." As reported by AFP, citing the press secretary of the British Ministry of Health, the ill-fated advertisement was indeed postponed, but it is possible that it will still be used in this anti-tobacco campaign. In the meantime, other elements will be used, of which there are plenty in tobacco smoke.

Fedor SEREBRYANSKY