Prevention Advocates Fight Wendy’s Helium Huffing Ad

A commercial airing nationally by fast food chain Wendy´s has sparked concern among prevention advocates, who say it sends the wrong message to kids about inhalants and normalizes something that has proved deadly for some teens.

The ad shows people huffing helium from a tank, talking in high-pitched voices and floating to the ceiling. Then someone says “Filling up with just anything, that’s wrong.” While inhaling helium is not as dangerous as other gases, prevention advocates say the very fact that it depicts people inhaling something into their body sends a dangerous signal to kids.

“It’s providing people, both young kids and adults, with inappropriate messages that it’s okay to put a gas or chemical in your body and that it’s fun,” said Harvey Weiss, Director of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC). “Once again we are faced with a company and advertising agency not being aware of the potential harm of the inappropriate message being delivered to young people.”

This is not the first time a commercial or advertisement has made light of inhalant use. Carvel Ice Cream recently aired a commercial of their Carvel characters using helium. After complaints from several organizations, the company pulled the ad. Similarly, Hallmark pulled an online greeting card showing young people floating around ingesting helium.

Inhalant use refers to the intentional breathing of gas or vapors with the purpose of reaching a high. Inhalants are legal, everyday products—everything from paint and glue to aerosol sprays and butane—which have a useful purpose, but can be misused. Some inhalants can cause serious health problems in just a single use, ranging from cardiac arrest to death. Helium is an inert gas that displaces oxygen in the lungs and consequently deprives the brain of oxygen. This can lead to lightheadedness, disorientation and possible loss of consciousness.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Monitoring the Future Survey, approximately one in six students in the United States has used an inhalant to get high by the time he or she reaches the 8th grade.

For Rich Coleman, a public safety community coordinator from Pittsfield Township, Mich., the ad hit a particularly sour note. The area is still reeling from the death of a young person due to huffing. “Just this week alone, I had a community member who found Dust-Off cans in a walkable area in the neighborhood, so we know that inhalant use is still a big issue for our community,” Coleman said. “When we have advertisers who push the envelope to promote what is perceived at colleges as a fun thing to do at parties, it crosses the line of responsible advertising.”

The NIPC is now urging prevention leaders to contact Wendy’s and ask that they pull the ad. So far, more than 20 local community leaders and organizations have complained about the ad and are mobilizing their communities to take action.

Here’s What You Can Do to Help:
 

1. Send and/or fax a letter to Wendy’s to express your concern and ask that they reconsider the ad. Address your letter to:

   Wendy’s
   One Dave Thomas Boulevard
   Dublin, Ohio 43017
   614/764 – 3100
   
   Kerrii B. Anderson, Chief Executive Officer & President
   Denny Lynch, Senior VP, Communications
   Ph: 614/764 – 3553; Fax: 614/764 – 6707
   Bob Bertini, Director, Communications
   PH: 614/764 – 3327 Fax: 614/766 - 3946

2. Contact your colleagues and other coalition members and ask them to also contact Wendy’s. Include examples of local inhalant-related incidents or tragedies if possible.
3. Contact your local media outlets to express your concerns (especially the stations who ran the ad) and see if they’ll do an inhalant story
4. Contact local schools, PTA groups, civic organizations, and local leaders and ask if you can do an inhalant presentation in light of the Wendy’s ad.

For more information about inhalants or the Wendy’s ad, visit www.inhalants.org or contact Harvey Weiss at nipc@io.com.

To learn more about how to prevent inhalant abuse in your community, visit CADCA’s Online Publication’s Library to order Inhalant Abuse Prevention 101: A Community Approach to Inhalant Prevention, one of CADCA’s Practical Theorist science-based manuals.