For example, the inscription “Smokers die earlier” is accompanied by a photograph of the feet of a corpse in a morgue. The phrase “Smoking leads to blockage of veins, heart attacks and strokes” will appear on a cigarette pack along with an image of surgeons at work. There are also more optimistic phrases, for example: “Quitting smoking reduces the risk of incurable heart and lung diseases.” Packs with such an inscription show a person playing sports. A downward-curved cigarette will illustrate the threat of impotence.
In total, 42 different kinds of warnings and appeals have been formulated. According to David Byrne, former member of the European Commission responsible for health issues, this measure should reduce the craving of EU residents for the harmful habit. “People must be turned away from smoking through shock. The real face of smoking is disease, death and horror, not the glitter and elegance that tobacco industry moguls try to create,” he believes.
European authorities are convinced: the new look of the cigarette pack will rid smoking of the aura of mystery and romance imposed in the 1960s that surrounds a person with a cigarette. EU authorities are determined to create a new image of smoking among young people through a press campaign, and among smokers through cigarette packs.
The cost of this campaign is estimated at approximately 72 million euros. But this is a trifle compared to the enormous damage that tobacco smoking inflicts on the European Union's economy. According to rough estimates by experts, losses to the pan-European economy amount to 100 billion euros per year!
However, it is unlikely that changing the image of cigarettes alone will suffice to reduce the army of smokers. Statistical data do not inspire optimism and indicate the need for more radical measures. According to Eurostat, half a million EU residents die each year from diseases caused by tobacco use. Moreover, half of these deaths occur among people aged 35 to 69, which is noticeably below the average life expectancy of Europeans.
In 1995, a third of men living in the EU and a quarter of women smoked an average of 10 to 14 cigarettes a day. The leaders in number of smokers were Greece, Denmark, Italy, and France. In 1999, 34% of the population in the Union countries smoked. The most smoking was Greece – there, 45% of respondents admitted to tobacco addiction. It was followed by Austria, Denmark, and France, each with a share of smokers of 38%. Close behind them in this indicator were Belgium and Spain, where 37% of respondents were friends with a cigarette. Given existing trends, experts predict that smoking mortality will rise significantly in the coming decades. This is due to changes in the population structure and also to the fact that the effects of smoking on health do not appear immediately.
The concern of European authorities over such a disappointing smoking situation is understandable, and the campaign to disfigure cigarette packs is more than timely. But will it bring the desired results? Most likely, a significant reduction in the share of smokers should not be expected in the near term.
Of course, packs with gloomy pictures and depressing inscriptions can influence those who have not yet made their choice in favor of smoking and are just experimenting – that is, primarily young people. However, it is not excluded that the variety of this propaganda and its quality will have the opposite effect: the packs may attract collectors. In addition, gloomy inscriptions cause understandable discontent among smokers. And it is known that a smoking person fights stress by puffing a cigarette or two (survey data show: about half of European smokers regularly experience stress; among non-smokers this figure is 33%).
Public organizations defending smokers' rights also oppose the disfigurement of cigarette packs. For example, Simon Clark, a representative of a British organization that protects smokers, is convinced that smokers are already aware of the harms of tobacco and “don't need to have it shoved in their faces.” “A simple written warning about possible health risks would have been enough. Everything else is too offensive,” he believes.
But perhaps the most telling blow to all campaigns of this kind was dealt by witty businessmen. Having keenly sensed the mood of tobacco lovers, they began producing... special stickers that radically change the meaning of health authorities' warnings. Several companies in different European countries are already operating that produce and sell such stickers, as well as special cases that completely hide the cigarette pack.
For example, one British company on its website offers everyone the chance to buy not only stickers (with far more jaunty inscriptions than the gloomy and dry official warnings, such as: “You've had a drink, so you can have a smoke,” “Smoking for socializing doesn't count,” or “If you quit smoking, you'll get fat,” etc.), but also various smoking accessories – ashtrays, lighters... In addition, anyone can share their idea for creating an even more witty and original sticker. Other companies offer to decorate a cigarette pack with an erotic photo, a joke, a slogan, or astrological motifs.
Smoking is a habit that is hard to break, even when one is aware of its harms. Although the new campaign is unlikely to lead to a sharp reduction in the number of tobacco-dependent people, it will at least make smoking less attractive to those who pick up a cigarette for the first time.