One Direction, the boy band hailing from England have already begun to to take over the globe with their catchy tunes and their adorable youthful looks. However, many fans are deeply saddened by member Zayn Malik’sheavy smoking. The 19-year-old Brit is viewed in the public eye as a role model and many believe that his habit sends a negative message to their young fans.
ForgetTobacco, a non-profit anti-youth smoking institution is catering to fans concerns and on their blog they issued a statement titled, ‘Zayn – Just Quit Bro,’ which confronts Zayn about his smoking while offering their help.
ForgetTobacco.com said: “Ironically, if you continue to smoke cigarettes (or fags for you British folks), you will lose that manly beauty. Cigarettes smell bad, mess up your skin, teeth and hair, and internal organs. Also, think about what it’s doing to your voice. Ask your girl Adele how smoking worked out for her. You may not see all of the effects immediately, but you’ll definitely start noticing changes. Kids are 3X more likely to start smoking if they see a celebrity they think is cool smoking. That means millions of young kids may consider this habit because of you.”
The site then challenged Zayn with: “Zayn – My organization and the thousands of kids we work with challenge you to publicly quit smoking by July 1st, 2012. We are more than willing to help you kick the habit and make everyone fall in love with you even more. Get in contact with us here.”
Personally, I find the challenge endearing but at the same time, we have to realize that Zayn comes from a different culture than us. I’ve spent a lot of time in England and smoking is quite the norm in young people, I’m not saying it’s right but at the same time is it wrong for us to tell him what to do?
What do you think of the message, should we even be butting (no pun intended) into Zayn’s life? Does the public have a say to tell him to quit smoking because he’s a ‘role model’?
