Clerks II Makes History

It's a turning point - there's going to be a special announcement on the Clerks II DVD that points out just how "uncool" some of the film's content is. That is to say, it's the smoking featured in the film that will be lambasted by the PSA, not Silent Bob's hat or the use of words like "smoochies" and "noochies".

In fact, the Weisnteins are going to put an anti-smoking ad on every one of their releases that features people lighting up. What a loss to the pantheon of 'ironic' dinner party anecdotage that they didn't distribute Thank You For Smoking.

13 studios - including the Weinsteins - received free anti-smoking ads from a syndicate of 41 states, Puerto Rico, DC and two US territories last month (if you live somehwere else in Bushland your state would rather you die of lung cancer than upset Big Tobacco, I guess). The Brothers Dubya are the first to oblige, with Harvey's statement telling us he feels like it's his "responsibility to do everything I can to educate young people about the dangers of smoking." Show us the inside of your lungs, then Harvey - that'd be quite offputting.

Sadly, the ads aren't targeted specifically to the film in hand, but will be the same across all titles. A nice little featurette that takes the Clerks II characters to task personally might have been worth a rental in it's own right.

Final awful Clerks II joke: as yet, it's not clear if another ad will be employed to explain just how uncool it is to screw a donkey.