PORTLAND (AP) – The latest batch of anti-tobacco television advertisements created by Maine students features a guy with yellow teeth and a giant cigarette butt chasing children around.

The Department of Human Services had so much success with the original ads three years ago that Maine youths were tapped again for public service announcements that began airing Monday.

This time, students from Lincoln, Freeport and Portland created, wrote and acted in their own ads, officials said.

Gov. John Baldacci, who joined the students at the unveiling, said the advertisements and accompanying Web campaign will be effective in targeting teenagers who might be tempted into trying cigarettes.

“These ads will strongly resonate with Maine youth because kids know better than anyone what type of messages will work best with their peers,” he said.

All three public service announcements direct viewers to www.maineresistance.org, a Web site that informs people about how to get involved in anti-tobacco efforts and tells smokers how to quit.

An ad created by students in Portland shows a giant cigarette butt chasing students before getting thrown into a trash receptacle. Another from Lincoln shows a smoker with yellow teeth having the door slammed in his face by an attractive date.

The third, from Freeport, depicts a game show in which contestants are vying for a prize that makes teeth and nails turn yellow and takes away your money: cigarettes.

Dr. Dora Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health, said smoking has declined among youth since the first ads appeared.The number of high school smokers dropped from 39.2 percent in 1997 to 20.5 percent in 2003, and the number of middle school smokers dropped from 21 percent to 8.7 percent in the same period, according to the annual Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Alli Miller, a graduating senior from Deering High School, described the target audience as middle schoolers who look up to high school seniors.

“We’re the ones who’re graduating. We’re the ones who have cars and all the cool stuff. But if they can look at us and say, Oh we didn’t have to smoke…’ Then that’s going to encourage them to do it too,” she said.