Is it just me hating the horrible smoking related disease publicity

It is hypocritical really because they are putting out all this anti smoking propaganda yet they continue to tax them heavily and make loads of money from smokers. If the government reallywanted to make smoking illegal like they have with almost every other drug then they could, but they don't because they make LOADS of money out of the tax,
 
Yeah, I get a bit annoyed by the adverts on tobacco. It's my choice to smoke, I understand that it's a bad one, but it's still my choice, and I don't appreciate being told not to make my own mind up.
 
I saw the adverts. I just laughed at their ridiculous argument of "smoking causes mutation, mutation causes cancer"

In that logic: mutations enabled us to instead of being apes, be humans with logic and intelligence. Smoking causes mutation. Mutations cause evolution.
I shall evolve if I smoke.

Great!
 
I`m a smoker and it isn't as simple as just stopping, i wish the government would just ban it all together and stop messing about.

Once you pack in there is too much temptation and nothing stopping you from buying some from the shop.
Ive stopped loads of times but there are times when you get stressed you have feel like its the only option.

Ask yourself why don't they ban it altogether if its so bad and i think the main reason is they would lose to much tax.
 
Castiel said:
I don't hate smokers, nor do I feel like stigmatising them because of an intentionally gross advert. I simply do not want to see such images on TV without warning, particularly when I am eating or watching with my children. Such images should be preceded with a warning or shown to smokers in some other way.

As for whether people have seen 'far worse', that really isn't the point...I have seen far worse, but that doesn't mean I wish to see it again and again. The people these adverts are aimed at will not be swayed by them anyway and there are other ways of educating children. If there is such a need to stop smoking that they require such images to be shown on per-watershed TV, Cinemas and on billboards then maybe they should legislate against smoking instead.
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Exactly how I feel.

As far as them being idiots (my original post). Some certainly are, any who claim that there is no link to increased illness/death etc. Those who can't keep away from it but want to are weak, I don't mean that disrespectfully but they ARE weak if they need someone else to stop them doing something.

I see this current advertising as a waste of money, if you really want to target kids do exactly what I said years ago and on here maybe a few months ago. Set a date, maybe 1/1/13. From that date anyone under 18 will NEVER be allowed to smoke, annually the age increases in line with those people aged 18 on that day, so by 1/1/23 they would be 28, anyone under 28 would not be allowed to smoke.
It would take a few years but by then 16 year olds would clearly be below the age to smoke and would not be easily able to go and buy fags. So we slowly stop the next generation of smokers or make it very difficult to sustain the habit as it would get harder and harder each year.

I don't believe the biggest issue stopping the government banning them is the tax on fags, I believe its mainly a) votes from those who do smoke and want to continue, b) its just very hard to actually enforce. Take plenty of drugs that are illegal but attainable, all that would happen is that for many they would just buy fags underground, helping to fund organised crime as they would undoubtedly be the main winners. Just like hiking the tax up would mean its easier for the organised criminals to make a good cut on fake or untaxed fags.
 
robskinner said:
:mad:

The latest adverts literally sicken me, I don't like watching them and as smokers are now a minority I don't frankly see why I should have to keep seeing a message aimed at a minority.

IMO smokers should be allowed to smoke, if they have to be forced to see propaganda then make it compulsory to hold a "smokers card" maybe distributed from GPs annually, and take that opportunity to force the messages across.

IMO they are stupid enough to smoke they are probably too stupid to understand the message anyway, or rely on the "I know a smoker who lived to 100 yet my neighbour who was a fitness freak died at 45" type circumstancial "proof" that smoking isn't dangerous.
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You say you hate the adverts yet from your words and tone it's clear they are working on you. Calling all smokers "stupid" is a clear example of how these ads have made it socially acceptable to talk about smokers like they're scum.

40 years ago say, it's very unlikely you would have the attitude you have.
 
I think smokers should be stigmatised more in society, perhaps then it would be less popular. They should also tax it more, make cigarettes £1 each or more. Also ban it in public totally
 
estebanrey said:
You say you hate the adverts yet from your words and tone it's clear they are working on you. Calling all smokers "stupid" is a clear example of how these ads have made it socially acceptable to talk about smokers like they're scum.

40 years ago say, it's very unlikely you would have the attitude you have.
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I am not the target audience, they have no need to "work" on me at all.

I have always felt smokers are idiots. Not idiots per se, idiots for starting up in the first place. Weak minded, uninformed, wanna be cool, whatever reason, for my generation there was already enough information on how damaging smoking was to be certain that anyone taking it up was for this specific case, an idiot.

I hate the adverts, period. In fact I just turn them off, look away whatever.
I don't follow them as they have no message for me, but its frustrating as Castiel mentions who they suddenly pop up without warning at unreasonable/unexpected times.

40 years ago people didn't realise quite how significant the risks, 20 years ago is different. Over time people understand more, thats no different to saying that 60 years ago I would have believed it impossible we could put a man on the moon or that the majority of the population would own cars and they would not simply be the preserve of the rich.
 
Why don't they increase the age of consent for smoking by one year, every year?

That way the tax revenue would be offset by decreasing NHS costs.
 
robskinner said:
How is the above related to the thread subject at all, even remotely?

The adverts are targetted at smokers nothing at all to do with the items you quote bar smoking.
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Because he states he dislikes the publicity and goes on to calling them stupid and so on.

You can't call someone stupid for doing something which can effect their health in a negative way unless you actively aim to have the healthiest lifestyle possible.

TBH this thread is just a stupid rant by someone who doesn't realize there are people who've been helped by the adverts.
 
Kamwah said:
Because he states he dislikes the publicity and goes on to calling them stupid and so on.

You can't call someone stupid for doing something which can effect their health in a negative way unless you actively aim to have the healthiest lifestyle possible.
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What?

Of course you can, there are degrees of everything. How the hell would you even start to be able to draw a line where you would "allow" someone to say people being called stupid for taking up smoking was allowed as you were as fit and healthy as you could be. You would have to stop practically everything that made civilisation in order to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible. Cars emissions, the food we eat, the fuels we burn to make energy etc they all affect our health so you would have to stop them in order to criticise smokers?

If I said someone was an idiot for running across a busy motorway would you object? But as soon as anyone dares call smokers idiots for starting something with significant and KNOWN health risks thats wrong?

One dictionary definition of idiot "utterly foolish or senseless person", that pretty clearly sums up people taking up smoking in my view.
 
Well I'm a smoker & I'm such an idiot I pressed a button on my remote & changed the channel when the ad came on, Can't remember who it was that taught me the change channel trick but it works really well.
 
Kamwah said:
TBH this thread is just a stupid rant by someone who doesn't realize there are people who've been helped by the adverts.
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Wait so now I am stupid for not wishing to see repeated advertising that just about everyone who has mentioned it describes as "gross" thats clearly focussed on a minority.

I don't have anything specific against smokers, its just if you really want to target them then do it in specific ways.

TV adverts like most advertising have the majority of their impact on first view, banging on the same message over and over again will not suddenly change peoples minds.

The rates of smokers at a young age hardly changes, older people quit, youngsters keep taking it up. The chances are they will ignore those TV adverts as smoking is cool, they are still pretty much unable to properly correlate cause and effect.

"However, there is evidence that actual smoking rates among 15-year olds may be higher than reported, based on measurements of cotinine in saliva, with 21% of 15-year old boys and 19% of 15-year old girls having cotinine levels indicative of active smoking"

We are failing to stop those starting who should never start, trying to stop the adults 10 years or more later is a lot harder than stopping the kids in the first place. The more smoking is seen as different the more cool its likely to be amongst kids/teenagers. Its always the way that being different is cool, was the same when I was a kid and is the same now.
 
I personally think the ad's are a little to graphic. As an ex-smoker myself I feel that there is far too much stigma attached to it, yes I welcome the ban in the workplace and in enclosed public areas, however banning smoking entirely is the wrong way to do it, you can't expect people who have smoked for years to suddenly have to stop. In order to give up smoking you must first WANT to give up smoking and if you don't want to you will find near impossible.

Also to those saying that smokers are a major burden on society you do realise that from the sales of tobacco related products the government actually make around £6bn in surplus income

Cost:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...moking-costs-nhs-pound5bn-a-year-1700509.html

Revenue:
http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/
 
As Silvertongue pointed out, if smoking was stamped out, that £6bn would need to be made from somewhere else. And as a non-smoker, I don't really want to pay for it.

On a side note, how do the figures add up for alcohol? Do we end up, as a country, making a profit on it compared to what it costs regarding NHS, policing, etc.?
 
4T5 said:
Well I'm a smoker & I'm such an idiot I pressed a button on my remote & changed the channel when the ad came on, Can't remember who it was that taught me the change channel trick but it works really well.
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I wonder how you turn the channel over on a billboard? Equally until you have seen the imagery it is difficult to judge the content, hense graphic scenes in news reports etc come with a preceding warning, something that isn't happening here. The whole 9 week campaign is supposed to be aimed at young people, but they are probably the least likely to be swayed by graphic imagery related to their mortality. It cost £2.7m as well, which might have been better spent on health education in schools instead.
 
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I know its very unlikely to be allowed ? but can we have a link to this advert the OP talks about ?

Just paste as plain text or a link with a few xxxs on the end so kids cant click it..

Would that be ok ?
 
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