Controversial Anti-Smoking Ad

There is a new anti-smoking ad that has been posted all over New York, which has people up in arms. A young boy about 4-years-old is lost at a train station and crying. There is a voice-over for the ad, which says, "If this is how your child feels after losing you for a minute, just imagine if they lost you for life." Most people are seeing it as very manipulative way to play on people heartstrings. This ad is...

Anti-Smoking Campaign Remodeled to Focus on Teens

Arizona anti-smoking activists are looking to campaign in a new way. Using mass media to show the reality of addiction to tobacco, their goal is to target an audience of 12-17 year-olds. This is the beginning of a new era of teen focused ad campaigns. The campaign was created with the help of teen smokers and friends of smokers, and its focus is not on the health impacts of smoking but on taking preventative measures. Bureau...

Teenage Girls Targeted by Tobacco Firms

Teenage girls are increasingly becoming a target of tobacco companies, who use marketing ploys that tap into the fears of young women about weight gain. "Female-friendly" packaging is being introduced according to warnings from anti-smoking campaign groups. One ploy by tobacco company "Silk Cut is a the packaging for their "Superslims", which is to be sold in boxes that are "perfume shaped,"...

Anti-Smoking Campaign Spreads to Postage Stamps

A stamp to honour Bette Davis was released on September 18th by the U.S. Postal Service. The photo on the stamp is the work of Michael Deas, and it is a reproduction of a still photo from the film "All About Eve." Strangely enough, the cigarette is missing from this signature photo of the actress. This is when you have to ask yourself how many children have actually been lured into tobacco smoking under the...

Ramadan Making Life Tough for Muslim Smokers

During the month of Ramadan many followers of the Muslim religion fast and give up on other vices. Despite frazzled nerves and a pounding headache, taxi driver Abdel Karim Romaneh does not light up during the day due to his fear of God. Until the sun sets the citizens of Ramallah do not eat, light up or drink, but once the Sun sets and the call of "Allahu Akbar" from the mosques ends they are free to do as they...

Smoking Making West Bengal Chief Lose Money

A strange as it may sound, In West Bengal the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is losing money in state funds because of his smoking habit. If it weren't for his passion for puffing he would be getting millions of dollars in international funds to help anti-smoking campaigns. A World Health Organisation (WHO) said, "I myself formulated two applications on behalf of Kolkata to fund the city to curb tobacco...