Silly stickers for cigarette packets - joke, or not?
Well, it had to happen, didn’t it? With cigarette packets carrying health warnings, some Smart Alec had to come up with a rejoinder. Yes, indeed – a UK company has had the temerity to produce stickers for cig packs similar in style and layout of the health warnings, but with fatalistic epithets such as, “Live fast, die young”, “You could get hit by a bus tomorrow”. Then there is the highly questionable, “Smoking makes you look sexy”, “Smoking makes you look big and clever”, or even, “Smoking makes you look hard”. Also the ultimate sin, “Smoking is cool” – yes, cigarettes described by the c-word, the hip word of choice. Another relates to fear of weight gain on giving up, “You will get fat if you stop smoking”. Eek.
The pack of stickers also includes a few that will strike a chord with those that occasionally indulge at parties, “Social smoking doesn’t count”, or “It’s ok if you’re drunk”. And there is even one for people who like to smoke the brand OP’s, (that’s Other People’s), “Buy your own fags”.
The company, which shall remain nameless – after all this is a blog to help people stop smoking, not promote companies that appear to encourage it, (but, ok, google it if you wish), admit that smoking kills, but feel that the stark health warnings “take the fun out of fags”. The stickers are intended to go over the official health warnings on UK cigarette packets, replacing them with “something a little less stressful”.
Needless to say, anti-smoking groups have criticised the website.
Edmond Bramhall, a reformed smoker, who set up the website, said the stickers aimed to provide light relief for smokers. “It is meant to be a bit of a laugh”, he said. He said the stickers are not meant to undermine government policies to encourage people to kick the habit.
The charity No Smoking Day has urged people not to buy the stickers, advising smokers to spend their money on nicotine replacement therapy instead.
Filed under: Controversy, Tobacco packaging
