In the United States there has been considerable mockery of the choice of Bristol Palin, the child of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who is also an unwed teenage mother, as the spokesperson for a national abstinence campaign run by the Candie’s Foundation.

The fact that Palin’s daughter chose not to practice what she is now preaching is seen by many as yet another example of conservative hypocrisy, but social advertisers have often used spokespeople who serve as negative examples. Perhaps one of the most famous examples is the use of Yul Brynner in an anti-smoking spot that was released after his death in 1985.


The Candie’s Foundation had previously created a number of “Pause Before You Play” public service announcements emphasizing the terrifying transformations that could take place as the result of sexual activity. In the ad above, a bed transforms into a crib, and in another commercial a car in which a couple is passionately embracing turns into a stroller with a tagline about not expecting this to be one’s “first set of wheels.”