Do you think that all the adverts about stopping smoking are making any difference?

Question

There are probably thousands spent on the adverts on the back of cigarette packets, along with all the adverts they put on the tv. Do you think that they make much of a difference at all? The reason I'm asking is that I'm a non smoker and always have been, so I guess a smokers opinion would be the best answer.

I am 37 years old. And all the kids I knew didn't ever bother with smoking.

Answer 1

Your missing out on all the benefits from smoking
The extra breaks and social interaction
It keeps your weight down(B0LL0CKS)
It lowers stress levels for a bit but then they come back with higher intensity (hence addiction)
Your pockets being lighter
The bad breath
The smelly clothes and house
The bad skin
The coughing
The extra phlegm (usually brown)
The breathing difficulties when exercising
The blocked arteries
Yellow fingers and teeth
The stress felt when you run out and the shops are shut
I nearly forgot the scroungers who never buy their own
And CANCER but it's a great excuse not to have to pay for your daughters wedding or give her away.Sorry darling I would have been there only I smoked myself to death! but at least you will no longer have to inhale my smoke.

Answer 2

I think so - I gave up just over a year ago. I had wanted to give up for a while but the stomach turning adverts made me think about it there and then rather than putting it off until a later date. My brother has a 3 year old and he's also given up because the adverts about children losing their parents gave him something to think about.

I don't think the adverts will out and out force someone to give up but it can come as a final straw or indeed intitate a chain of thought which results in giving up/cutting down.

It wouldn't be prudent to stop the adverts either - even if it's not causing smoking to stop altogether, what we can't do is sit back and do nothing about it.

Answer 3

I think you'll find that the Government spends very little on adverts. The "adverts" on the packets are not paid for, they have to be there by law otherwise they cannot be sold. So it is the manufacturers that have to put them there themselves. You also see that so many of the TV adverts are now by makers of patches and gum.

The fact that smoking is in decline show that they must have some long term effect, as someone above said, they must feel like third rate citizens, although most of the new ads are now being supportive and not preachy.

Answer 4

Like most of these style of adverts they shock the people who don't do it. Whether it be smoking, speeding, taking drugs etc.

I have to say the smoking adverts don't put me off, but my non-smoking parents usually are shocked by the adverts.

They believe that since banning smoking in Ireland .... the number of smokers has gone up! Crazy eh!

Answer 5

I'm not sure what the back of cigs say in the states but here in Europe it says smoking kills and other things in like that. I am a new non smoker and I will say that it does make you think but that alone will not do it. I think that it is a way to make people think but if the person doesn't want to quit then it won't do much.

Answer 6

I'm a smoker, I gave up for over 9 years, then started again (when my eldest became a teenager)
The adverts on TV are good, but they would not make me give up again, as for reading the warning on a packet, well...... you've read 1 you've read them all
I really wish I could give up, but I'm pretty sure seeing a girl riding a motorbike with a nicotine patch on her arm, is not gonna be the thing to do it for me!

Answer 7

Yes, I think they make a differance.

The new rules coming in this year to stop smoking in public places will hopefuly make even more of a differance.

With all the things the government spends money on, I think their are others a lot worse than smoking adverts.

Answer 8

how old are you?....I am now 29 (and I do smoke, unfortunately). when I was a kid everybody smoked, and everybody smoked wherever and whenever they wanted.....today there are few public venues that allow smoking anywhere in the country, there are many many more people who don't smoke than who do (though the exact percentage you would have to look up) and smoking is generally looked down on, as opposed to the 80's and earlier, when it was accepted and universal. personally, I am embarrassed by my smoking habit....It is a very hard thing to quit doing....you have no idea. but to answer your question directly, I think the ads do help because 1) they are getting more and more clever (for more and bigger impact) and 2) because they are keeping with and encouraging the trend toward health and body awareness that our society is taking (which isn't to say that everybody is trying to be healthy,. but that being healthy is becoming the desirable standard).

Answer 9

Well, I quit smoking 13 years ago. But I think the population that the ads are helping is those in the over 21 bracket. Teens won't stop- they want to look cool, it's like a peer thing. It's kinda like a rule- "If ya wanna be cool, ya gotta smoke!" Of course as we age, we realize how stupid these little teeny boppers look, like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders and need to light up to take the stress off! So to sum it up, yes, it IS helping those who have matured and are investigating what they're ingesting, and the health risks of it.

Answer 10

well i am not a smoker personally but my mom step mom and my sister is and they watch alot of tv and see the adds. i ask them why dont they stop, but it is very addicting. i belive the commercials may tell smokers in their mind that it is bad for them,but if theve been smoking over a period of time there most likely hooked on the smoking and its very very hard for them to give up,,, so to answer your question i believe those adverts tell people whats going on inside their bodies, but i dont think it can force them to stop the addicting smoking