Posted on November - 27 - 2010
Would Corpses and Diseased Lungs Stop You from Smoking?
If you buy a packet of cigarettes in Canada, be prepared. Our health-conscious northern neighbors arm their cancer sticks with graphic images of the physical effects of smoking. The FDA has taken note of how effective Canada’s campaign has been and is thinking about following suit.
According to the Washington Post, “Corpses, cancer patients and diseased lungs are among the images the federal government plans for larger, graphic warning labels that would take up half of each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States.” If seeing graphic images of the fatalistic consequences of smoking isn’t going to make people stop, we’re not sure what will.
Tobacco products are responsible for 443,000 deaths each year. This goal of this shock and awe tactic is to prevent kids from picking up this smoky habit in the first place and to offer current smokers a renewed (and visually-explicit) incentive to quit.
While some people are touting this new campaign as too much, others beg to differ. CBS News reports that Dr. David Hammond, professor of health studies at the University of Waterloo in Canada says, “The labels are a little light on hard-hitting images. Strong, graphic, aesthetically displeasing images have been shown to be very effective at deterring smoking, especially with kids. There is good reason for having graphically strong pictures as long as they depict the health effects truthfully.”
Hammond says that similar in-your-face campaigns used in other countries have been very successful. He said the FDA’s proposal would be more effective if they used real images of real people instead of models.
Whether or not these images are enough to curb smoking stateside (or if they’ll even make it to cigarette packs) is yet to be determined. However, we support any effort to stop smoking — especially in kids. Good job FDA for taking a strong step to keeping us healthy and cancer free. We hope it works.
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