Mysterious posters popping up in the nation’s most populous cities, including New York City, Chicago and Seattle, have created quite a controversial stir among passersby. The “Deserve to Die” campaign hones in on odd demographics, such as cat lovers, hipsters, the smug and the tattooed, and declares they are deserving of death. What message is the advertisement conveying?

Upon visiting their website – NoOneDeservesToDie.org – we are provided with this information:

Every year over 160,000 lives are lost to a deadly disease. They didn’t ask for it, but many people seem to think they deserved it. This disease doesn’t discriminate. It affects almost all of us and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. So, what is the killer? You’ll find out soon enough.

Many websites have compared the statistic to that of lung cancer deaths, making it the most likely message behind this campaign.

UPDATE! The website has confirmed that this is a lung cancer campaign.

Pedestrians and commuters catching glimpses of the posters pasted around their cities have voiced negative reactions. Many viewers find the ominous statements offensive, extreme and in some cases worthy of covering children’s eyes over. But the confusion and outrage has sparked interest in discovering the ads’ origins, leading the website on a path to major national headlines. Digital groundswell produced from the controversy has successfully spread the word that NoOneDeservesToDie.org hoped to highlight.

What do you think of this campaign? Do you find it extreme?

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