Is it or isn't it 'cool'

I went home last weekend, to see my parents and to do the family thing for my birthday. As I walked into the kitchen there was a packet of vanilla flavoured cigars on the stove. My parents aren’t big smokers- they are the ‘social smoker’ type, if there is such a thing. And for as long as I can remember I’ve been dead against the filthy habit- The annoying child that threw out statistics on cancer victims and the affects of smoking, while sitting around the table on family BBQ’s and picnics. But last weekend I gave in. I gave in to the clever marketing of the tobacco industry, and sparked one up. It didn’t at all taste like the revolting stench a cigar or cigarette usually smells like. It was vanilla. There is so much talk and money spent on anti-smoking advertising these days. The advances in our technology have allowed the government to launch multi-million dollar campaigns against tobacco smoking. In my opinion these ads aren’t targeted at the 80 year old who after 60 years is still drawing on that fag. They’re targeted at our youth and aim to discourage the initiation of an addictive habit. However, these ads are contradicted by the advances in cigarettes- the launch of strawberry, vanilla, apple and chocolate flavours- The availability of bright and funky exterior colours. I gave in and ignored everything I believed about the cigarette on the basis of it looked different, it looked appealing. I am not addicted, but I liked it. And I suppose if I was sitting around a table with friends and family and someone brought out some flavoured cigars, I’d give it another go. Tobacco and cigarettes are becoming ‘cooler’, they are more appealing to the younger generation. In my circumstance the anti-smoking advertisements and campaigns did not once enter my mind when I lit that vanilla flavoured cigar. Every multi-million dollar anti-smoking campaign that I had ever been exposed to was overridden by a $12 appealing tabacco stick.
Has our technology allowed for teenagers to be more informed about the dangers and affects of tobacco smoking, or has it simply made the habit more appealing?