‘Suck on this’ T-shirt won’t stop kids in Pierce County from lighting up
Aug 13, 2013, 1:40 PM | Updated: 1:40 pm
Kids will wear the anti-smoking t-shirt because their parents are bothered by the lewd phrasing, according to John Curley. (Image courtesy Suck On This Facebook page)
(Image courtesy Suck On This Facebook page)
A mom panicked when two teenage boys came up to her daughters at the Pierce County Fair and gave them T-shirts with the phrase “suck on this.”
The words were lewd, the mom told KING 5. But the message was actually for an anti-smoking campaign. In small letters below the large “suck on this” message, the shirts said one hour of smoking hookah is the equivalent of 150 cigarettes.
Certainly the T-shirt draws attention, but KIRO Radio host John Curley admits that it does so because it’s offensive.
What it doesn’t do, is anything for the civil discourse surrounding smoking in our society. Kids will wear it, he said, because their parents are bothered by the lewd phrasing.
“If you’re some sort of radical kid, a James Dean, you would not only wear the T-shirt, you’d be smoking at the same,” said John.
So how do we get kids to stop smoking? We’re already on our way. John believes we just need to keep raising the price of cigarettes. Still, there is a ways to go. A pack of smokes in Washington costs over $8, but in New York you have to shell out over $14.
