Do anti-smoking ads work?

This is an image from British government anti-smoking posters featuring men and women with fish hooks through their mouths. The ads attracted one of the highest numbers of complaints the advertising standards watchdog has ever received.

In my opinion, "anti" ads of any kind rarely work. They tend to do quite the opposite of their intended purpost. They put so much attention on the 'negative' subject, that they end up attracting people to it rather than deter them from it.

Smoking is down from a few years back, I believe. But, I cannot put my finger on any specific reason, other than trying to be healthy.

if people want to smoke ads aren't going to stop them

It is also up for debate on whether or not smoking is actually down or not.
At least in the case with Teen smoking, anyway.
How do they determine if teen smoking is up or down?
They conduct surveys. These surveys are carried out both over the phone or even door to door. Teens are not as likely to be truthful on these surveys if Mom or Dad are in the next room. This is going to seriously skew the numbers.

Another thing to consider is that young people today are smoking only once in a while, in social situations, and not so much on a pack-a-day basis.
Therefore they don't tend to see themselves as "smokers" and don't report themselves that way when asked in a survey.

I can honestly say they never impacted my decision to smoke. I really loved smoking. The only thing that ever had any impact on me was the birth of my child and knowing that I wanted to live to see him grow up - and that he was counting on me.

Quitting smoking was absolutely one of the hardest things I've ever had to do - and my heart goes out to anyone that really wants to but can't. It's not the chemical addiction that makes it difficult as much as it is the physical habit. When I quit, I simply stopped seeing my friends that I used to hang around with out at the smoker's area at work. I became a more productive employee because my day didn't revolve around breaking to smoke a cigarette. In short, my whole world had to change. I associated smoking with getting up in the morning, driving, after meals, relaxing out on my deck in the evening and any time I had an adult beverage.

To be honest, the cravings still haven't gone away, only the frequency has diminished - and it's been two years. I see that cigarettes are now almost $5/pack in my area, but I don't believe the costs would be a deterrent. So, to sum it up, no, silly ads and billboards do absolutely nothing. You have to really WANT to quit in order to be successful. Anything less than a total commitment to cessation on the part of the smoker is going to result in failure.

I quit, because my husband was not happy about the stench from the smoke. He has never tried even once in his life.

No, they're put out by the cigarette companies.

These are from the Canadian Health Authorities.

The ones that get me the most are the "truth" ads you see here in the US. I've never seen such an asinine ad campaign in my life.

baggss said:

The ones that get me the most are the "truth" ads you see here in the US. I've never seen such an asinine ad campaign in my life.

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Which ones are they?

If you look at most advertising campaigns, you wonder how they manage to work. Occasionally, there's a funny or innovative one, but usually they just leave me going, "Huh?"

Somehow, though, they do, enough that companies spend millions on them. So who knows how effective they really are.

technologist said:

If you look at most advertising campaigns, you wonder how they manage to work. Occasionally, there's a funny or innovative one, but usually they just leave me going, "Huh?"

Somehow, though, they do, enough that companies spend millions on them. So who knows how effective they really are.

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I aggree. Then, there are those "statistics".

This is the supidest anti smoking ad I've ever seen:


"More than half of premature deaths in smokers is due to tobacco use" well no duh

why is that stupid? Children idolize their parents and antw to do what they do.

kman445 said:

why is that stupid? Children idolize their parents and antw to do what they do.

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That part is true, but the sentence I am sort of quoting is so redundant it's stupid and makes me laugh more than anything.

I think it is to educate kids.
Still today, I truly enjoy the pipe tobacco smell, because my father used to smoke a pipe (no drugs).