This picture of a lighter that advertises a funeral home in Florida was making the rounds on Twitter recently and it seems like a perfect candidate for the question we constantly ask, “Responsible marketing, yes or no?”
My take: I’ve looked at the website of the funeral home in question and it appears to be a traditional funeral home with a very sympathetic and sensitive approach to their clients. So, I think it’s safe to say that they don’t have a cavalier attitude about death or terminal illness.
In that context, this lighter seems more of a dig, specifically, at people that continue to smoke cigarettes in spite of overwhelming absence that they shorten your life. It’s a lighter that someone would give to a smoker to remind them that they aren’t doing their health any favors and, at the same time, to provoke laughter at the morbid idea that a funeral home is happy you’re smoking.
But on the other hand, people that have suffered the loss of a loved one due to smoking-related diseases might not find this funny or appropriate coming from a funeral home.
Would this lighter make you more or less likely to use this funeral home’s services?
