Cigarette Packaging Can Help with Smoking Cessation

Placement of large warnings about harm to the health on cigarette packs is ideal public service advertising, because smokers see it every time, taking a cigarette. If the warning is backed up by a realistic illustration of the effects of smoking, such pack just hit “the spot”. Pictures on packaging should be changed periodically so that buyers do not become accustomed to them. Those who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day will see a warning about 7000 times a year.

Canada was among the first to introduce pictorial warnings on cigarette packs. They became more than ever, included color images, many warnings as well as descriptions of the effects of smoking and tips on quitting smoking.

A cigarette pack with warning label

Pictures were very effective. According to comparative studies, Canadian smokers showed the greatest awareness of the harmful health consequences of smoking compared with smokers from Australia, UK and USA. 60% of Canadian smokers knew about the risk of impotence (versus 36% of Australians, 34% of Americans, 36% of Britons), and Canadians were more aware of the risk of apoplectic attack and lung cancer among passive smokers. More Canadian smokers are more aware of the composition of tobacco smoke: carbon monoxide, arsenic and cyanide.

In general, 84% of Canadians (for comparison – 69% of Australians, 56% of Americans and 47% of Britons) considered the cigarette pack, as a source of information about the dangers of smoking, an effective method. This is not a surprise. In fact other Canadians longer than all are looking at shocking and frightening pictures on cigarette packs.

78% of Brazilian smokers endorsed the emergence of shocking pictures on packs, 67% wanted to quit and more than 50% changed their opinion about the health consequences of smoking.

Australian teenagers, who smoke and experiment smoking, begin to think that they smoke all for nothing after viewing graphic warnings. After the introduction of mandatory pictorial warnings, 57% of adult Australian smokers have thought about quitting, 36% of smokers began to smoke less and 34% have tried to quit. 55% of those who have recently quitted smoking (and the number of “relapse” and “disruption” is extremely large as to overcome tobacco addiction is very difficult), haven’t begun to smoke again at viewing a scary “pictures” on the package.

The largest graphic warnings on cigarette packs are being done in Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. There 30% of the front side and 90% of the back of the pack is allocated to a picture and warning text. The country which gave more than half of the front of the pack for warning is Kyrgyzstan, being in advance of even Canada.

In terms of tobacco control, large text prevention is better than nothing. However, there is a direct link between the size and color of font, the presence of an image on a cigarette pack and the effectiveness of warning labels. It is proven that the picture essentially raises awareness about the risks of smoking, about the chemical composition of cigarettes and the impact of tobacco on health.

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