U.S. tobacco companies–through political donations, lobbying efforts, and networks–are able to exert some control over the degree to which, and how, the U.S. government controls its industry. One area of resistance involves warning labels. The tobacco company has been resisting the very idea that cigarettes cause cancer, and the advertising of this fact, for decades.
This photo of cigarettes on sale at a duty free shop in Düsseldorf, Germany, sent in by Steve W., gives us some perspective on just how successful they’ve been:
Here, for comparison, is a photo of cartons of Marlboro’s on sale in Texas:
In case you can’t read it, the large text above the “Marlboro” logo reads: “Flip Top Box.”
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 29
Cute Bruiser — August 13, 2009
Oh, that's nothing compared to the packages in Canada.
http://images.google.ca/images?q=canadian%20cigarette%20warnings&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
paul — August 13, 2009
But we've seen time and again that the warnings on the box don't mean much to people, who largely ignore them. A government that really wants to do something about the problem doesn't slap with one hand and collect taxes with the other.
Alex — August 13, 2009
And how does this correlate to the fact that around 30% of Germans smoke and around 18% of Americans do? http://www.heartstats.org/datapage.asp?id=889
Amelia of Gradually Greener — August 13, 2009
Uhh... why are the warnings on the German boxes in ENGLISH? It might reduce the efficacy just a little.
Kellynn — August 13, 2009
Also compare Singapore's cigarette warnings:
http://www.smoke-free.ca/warnings/Singapore-warnings.htm
Extremely graphic, and Singaporean cigarettes are also heavily taxed.
Daniel — August 13, 2009
I have a similar comment to Alex's.
According to this WHO data:
http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/atlas40.pdf
35% of Germans smoke while only 23.6% of Americans do.
On the other hand German's smoke 1,702 cigarettes per person anually, much less than America's 2,255.
Maybe the warnings make smokers smoke less, but don't make them stop. Or maybe it is a pricing issue.
Interesting, nonetheless.
Tintin LaChance — August 13, 2009
Egypt also has some impressive anti-smoking warnings on their cigarettes, though theirs aren't nearly as graphic as Singapore's, ew: http://arabist.net/archives/2008/06/17/egyptian-anti-smoking-warning-labels/
When I was there in January, a lot of the other people on my trip bought them as souvenirs. I rather wish I would've, too, in retrospect--my father (who does smoke) would've gotten a kick out of them.
Sonja — August 13, 2009
@Amelia: The warnings are in English because the picture was taken in the duty free. When you buy cigarettes elsewhere, they're in German.
On top of that, we have laws regulating tobacco ads, to the point where they're not allowed to show people smoking.
However, it's unclear how effective these regulations are. Every now and then, there's discussion about putting the shock pictures on them, too.
Magnetic Crow — August 13, 2009
I saw those in Amsterdam and loved them!
I'm allergic to cigarettes myself, and get really seriously ill when exposed to the smoke for too long (like bronchitis or pneumonia ill).
So I have a pretty vested interest in people at large smoking less, especially in public spaces where I might want to (or be forced to) go.
That said, I don't think there's really anyone in America who goes into smoking and doesn't know the health hazards. They might not fully comprehend them, but they've been warned at least this much. A lot of people are just fatalistic, or can't actually see that happening to them.
Among my friends who smoke, a lot more of them have tried quitting for economic reasons than for health-related ones (though maybe that's just because I'm still pretty young yet, and so are most of my friends who smoke).
SB — August 13, 2009
Ah Kellynn bet me to it! I was going to mention the same thing. I have seen the Singapore ones first hand and they are very graphic. But just like anything else I find people seem to become desensitized to them. I once overheard a man asking for the pack with pregnancy warning because he said it didn't bother him since it didn't apply to him.
Rose — August 13, 2009
I read somewhere, forget where, that it was found with women that making them more aware of how smoking affects their attractiveness (e.g. wrinkles, skin problems, bad teeth etc.) has a bigger effect in putting them off smoking than drawing attention to health problems. I think I read that with men, drawing attention to the fact that smoking can make them impotent has a similar effect. I think we have the impotence warnings on some packs here in the UK. We have NHS posters here that suggest people should give up smoking so they are nicer to kiss (apropos of nothing, another in the series is - because it will be nicer for your pet).
Niki — August 13, 2009
As Cute Bruiser said above, the German warnings are pretty tame compared to ours in Canada. The warnings have graphic images that take up about about a third of the box space; check out a few of them here: http://www.nsra-adnf.ca/cms/index.cfm?group_id=1211
Not only that, but here in the province of Ontario--and some other provinces as well--stores that sell cigarettes are now legally obligated to keep them not only behind the counter and locked up, but completely invisible to all patrons in a non-see-through case, to be opened only when they're requested (Sorry for the long link): http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2008/05/31/tabacco-display-cbc-080531.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/31/cigarette-display.html&usg=__XcEVhBqIwcDBxzEJfTf2X88zncI=&h=176&w=220&sz=11&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=5zaQTxhzs7TdvM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dontario%2Bcigarette%2Bsellers%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26um%3D1
If you don't know what company or type you're looking for, you can't browse the offerings and they can only open it when something specific is ordered (like King-sized Peter Jackson lights, for example).
We're not allowed to smoke outdoors here either, in a public area, if it has even the remotest concept of a "roof," like on many restaurant patios.
Niki — August 13, 2009
Basically, to sum up my previous comment, smokers=lepers in Ontario and most of Canada. We even have a debate going on within our (public) health care system that only non-smokers should get free access to lung cancer treatment. You reap what you sow, right? It's pretty twisted if you ask me. And no, I don't smoke.
Aaron Bassett — August 13, 2009
Still think the UK wins. We have pictures of throat tumors etc
http://images.google.ca/images?q=uk+cigarette+warning
Bec — August 13, 2009
The warnings we have in australia are similar to those in canada and the uk:
http://www.quitnow.info.au/internet/quitnow/publishing.nsf/Content/warnings-lp
Plus they are quite expensive and those that smoke are treated as social lepers.
Pauline — August 13, 2009
I was about to mention the same thing Bec. Our anti-smoking campaigns are disgusting, especially the latest one that shows a person with mouth cancer. Seeing that on a 40 inch tv screen during dinner really turns the stomach.
Unfortunately I think this direction - showing the really extreme cases - is probably not doing a whole lot towards preventing people from smoking. What the people above have said is right - you'd do much better to point out the negative effects on someone's appearance. Even I can see that female smokers (who smoke a LOT) often have bad skin and teeth and get a raspy voice. And honestly, it's probably one of the biggest deterrents for me. Along with the price.
In addition to the anti-smoking campaigns, the cigarette industry is NOT allowed to advertise at all here in Australia. And even the stands of cigarettes in stores aren't allowed to display real advertisements. You also can't just pick them up off the shelf - you need to go to the counter to buy them and show proof of age.
We also have a lot of 'no smoking in covered public areas' signs to prevent people from smoking in places like train stations. You also can't smoke in pubs or nightclubs anymore.
Kath — August 13, 2009
In my French classroom, there used to be a giant box of cigarettes. A 100 pack. In very large letters, in plain sight, there was a warning that [translated] read: Warning, smoking can harm the sperm count and cause infertility. When I asked my teacher about this - why put it in terms of sex as opposed to, say, oh I don't know, death? - he explained that the French government would try *anything* because the country is just so hooked.
Jim — August 13, 2009
A better source for the graphic Canadian warnings on cigarette packs is here: . The impotence one is my favorite.
Jim — August 13, 2009
For some reason the link didn't appear in my comment. I'll try again:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/tobac-tabac/legislation/label-etiquette/graph/index-eng.php
vegkitty — August 13, 2009
I remember the ones in the Prague airport when I was there (circa 2005) simply said: "Smoking Kills." Simple, effective, and to-the-point, I think.
Kate — August 15, 2009
EU vs America might be a more accurate description
Sonja — August 16, 2009
@Kate: *nods* the warnings are actually mandated by the EU.
As to the different warnings: The law says that 15 different warnings have to be used.
German Wikipedia says that the shock pictures on the packages are "common in the US", btw. So that's not true?
Walter_jnr — September 28, 2009
So they are forced to add warnings? They just add more addictive chemicals, completely unregulated, into their already addictive products.
Michelle Smith — June 25, 2021
Free ciga