If people don't care about their health...

Coming from more of a marketing background in my studies, I began thinking about the current success of anti-smoking campaigns and how to boost it. Now most ads focus more on the damages smoking causes to health (see previous post). Having asked a few smokers, I found that people aren't concerned about their health (see previous posts). Then what would they be concerned with? I came up with other potential issues that could answer this:

• image/appearance
• pollution
• family's health

As mentioned in my previous post, smoking is considered sexy. Actors and actresses promoted it in earlier years and so the public followed. What they weren't told was that smoking also caused the yellowing of teeth and nails, caused rinkles, and created bad breath. If image is what smokers are concentrating on then maybe advertise how smoking makes one appear disgusting. This is touched upon in ads such as the mouth cancer ad but as found through my interviews, most smokers think that it will never happen to them. Bad breath, rinkles, and yellowing of teeth and nails happens to ALL smokers.

Original Image: http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A2062/20620/300_20620.jpg
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Smoking doesn't just effect the smoker. As found in my previous post, smoking harms the envioronment and wildlife also. When interviewing smokers, it was found that many do actually care for the environment and never really considered the damages smoking could cause to the earth. Raising awareness about such issues would not only help the environment but maybe even turn people off smoking.

Original Image: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/images/bird-photography.jpg
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If one doesn't care about themself, then who would they care about? Their family. When one smokes, the people around have no choice but to breathe their smoke in - Passive smoking. Some ads have already begun concentrating on this (see previous post). By showing a smoker's child in hospital due to passive smoking, this triggers the smoker in more of an emotional way. They may not care about themself but they do care about their family.

Original Image: http://www.eyesontutorials.com/images/PhotoEffects/Sigma/tut47_TheLittleFairy/1.jpg
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If ads were more varied, covering several issues rather then just focussing on the damage of health, maybe the quit response would reach a wider audience?

Butts Everywhere!

Once one finishes their smoke, where does the butt go? If there is no ashtray, the common answer is on the ground. This is littering. But why would you care? What I find ironic is that many smokers do 'care' for the environment (Taylor-Cassan, 2007). Yet I find so many cigarette buds lying around - with many not even realising the effects this has to our earth (Taylor-Cassan, 2007).


Image: http://righthandmarketingmanagement.com/righthandmarketingandmanagement1.aspx

Having said this, it does not mean that ALL smokers do this. Someone I know, for example, has bought a portable ash tray, similar to the one pictured below, which she empties when she finds a bin.


Image: http://www.chinatraderonline.com/Lighters-Smoking-Accessories/Ashtrays/Handy-Ashtray/Portable-Ashtray-075430312/

So what damage do these butts cause? Not only to they damage the appearance of the environment, but the chemicals used in cigarettes can dramatically harm wildlife (Polito, 2010). Cigarettes are not biodegradable and so are left lying around damaging the environment for as much as fifteen years (Polito, 2010).

So maybe anti-smoking campaigns should raise awareness about the effects smoking has to the environment?



References:

- Polito, J.R. 2010, Cigarette Butts, Accessed 15/09/2010, http://whyquit.com/whyquit/a_butts.html
- Taylor-Cassan, J. 2007, How Smoking Affects our Environment, Accessed 25/09/2010, http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/environment/smoking-affects/