Over-the-top anti drug ads

Many have seen these commercials on TV where, through quick shock factor, metaphorically visual attempts are made to deter people from drug use. Criticisms have been made that these commercials are often depicting events far more cataclysmic than would actually occur, or, are decrying drugs in general, and not delineating between gateway drugs or harder substances. Actually, the term gateway drug is part of the main device the ads use, which is a suggestion that once a person tries any drugs once, their whole life will deteriorate. The classic ad is a girl smashing an egg with a skillet exclaiming languidly 'this is your brain on heroine' and proceeding to scream and smash her entire kitchen in an attempt to demonstrate what it will do to an entire family. Embedded in these texts is the unifying protagonist who is often a young white person. They are often shown to be alone, so as to suggest that by doing drugs they are alienating themselves from everyone. In a more outrageous ad, a young white man in a crowded, colorful dance club goes into a stall in a desolate restroom where he rips open the back of his head and picks a piece of his brain out, chops it up with a credit card, and snorts it through a dollar bill. While this commercial may be effective in the moment, it doesn't specify what the man is snorting. Another anti-marijuana commercial has a young white girl being confronted by her dog who talks and tells her that she hasn't been the same since smoking weed. Something so ridiculous, as many Youtubers comments attest to, can only make one angry enough to go against the ads wishes. The extremity of these commercials have been parodied in an episode of South Park, "My Future Self n' Me," where the boy's parents hire actors to play the children's degenerate future selves in an effort for them to keep away from drugs so as not to become a grown- up loser. At one point, two parents have a conversation about it being okay to lie to their kids if it keeps them away from drugs, the moral of the episode ultimately being that it is not okay. The question is thus raised: is it ethical for these commercials to go through extreme measures to scare people away from drugs, or do they have an adverse effect? The way they are targeted to a certain demographic is also an interesting question. Do the makers of these ads think older people or minorities are too outside of the circuit to be influenced by the ads?