A Swedish group devoted to getting teens to stop smoking has opened shop in the popular game Minecraft.
In an effort to curb smoking by young adults, a group in Sweden has opened a virtual Fear Clinic is the game Minecraft so that people can talk about their smoking habits and problems with an on-call psychologist in-game.
“With the Fear Clinic we want to help young people to talk about fears, instead of hiding them behind a cigarette,” said Ann-Therese Enarsson, chairman of A Non Smoking Generation. In the video at right, you can see a player walking up to another person in a lab coat and they go into an office to chat.
The idea came about after a survey of Swedish young adults from 16-25 found that 6 in 10 believed that kids started smoking to show they are fearless. They also believe that non-smoking ads have little to no effect.
The organization has contracted with YouTube celebrity Joseph Garrett, who plays Minecraft and has created incredibly popular videos for the game, to create the videos for the Fear Clinic.
Source: PSFK
