# Will ugly pics on cigarette packs make you stop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 21, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342 "2011-06-21T20:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/41 "2011-06-23T11:45:17Z")
Don’t smoke. Exercise. Eat right. Die anyway. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/42 "2011-06-23T11:50:47Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Don’t smoke. > Exercise. > Eat right. > > Die anyway. It’s not the death that’s the problem. There are worse things than death. It’s the living with cancer, or brain damage due to a stroke, or not being able to breathe due to emphysema for years as you linger. I’d rather try to stack the odds in my favor to minimize that. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/43 "2011-06-23T11:58:26Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It’s not the death that’s the problem. There are worse things than death. > > It’s the living with cancer, or brain damage due to a stroke, or not being able to breathe due to emphysema for years as you linger. I’d rather try to stack the odds in my favor to minimize that. Good plan. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/44 "2011-06-23T11:58:48Z")
Interesting site with the proces of a pack of marlboro light in about 60 countries world wide. Huge difference. Much of the difference is the government added tax to discourage smokign and gain revenue. > **[Sigarettenprijzen: de prijs van een pakje Marlboro sigaretten wereldwijd.](https://www.landenportal.nl/informatie/sigarettenprijzen-marlboro.htm)** > > De prijs van een pakje Marlboro sigaretten in het buitenland. I guess those proces are based on marketing research on the maximum that smokers are willing to pay. The prices have to be corrected, of course, for the standard of living but I find it telling that Norwegian smokers are willing to pay over 9 euro’s a pack. That’s 12 dollars and 90 cent. ETA: in Holland, we don’t have the scary images, but only written warnings. I’ve got no data on how much they help. Smoking is banned in more and more places now, though, we are approaching the US there. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/45 "2011-06-23T12:04:16Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Good plan. Yup. I also wear seat belts and look both ways before I cross a street. Oh, I used birth control when I wanted to avoid unwanted pregnancies, none of which are guarantees for anything, but improve my odds for a better outcome. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/46 "2011-06-23T12:14:19Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Yup. I also wear seat belts and look both ways before I cross a street. Oh, I used birth control when I wanted to avoid unwanted pregnancies, none of which are guarantees for anything, but improve my odds for a better outcome. If more people would follow that simple common sense approach, we’d all be better off. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/47 "2011-06-23T20:25:51Z")
No. I used to drink a bit too much, but it’s a drug which can immediately affect your life negatively, in very tangible ways. Not that hard to cut it out if you value other aspects of your quality (not necessarily quantity) of life. Cigarettes get into the brain and nothing is going to keep an addict from them. Backslid after however many months the last number of weeks, and now it’s a bitch to moderate. I don’t care about any nasty pictures – I know all about that. It’s a bizarre compulsion and, at least initially, requires quite a bit of thought to break – thought from inside the reptilian, enforced by habit. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/48 "2011-06-23T20:30:58Z")
I would just like to go on record as saying that I would definitely eat less donuts if they came in a box with a picture of a big fat ass on it. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/49 "2011-06-23T20:33:20Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I would just like to go on record as saying that I would definitely eat less donuts if they came in a box with a picture of a big fat ass on it. Especially if it was a real-time shot of mine… ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/50 "2011-06-24T12:48:50Z")
And even though I smoke cigars, I have the lings of a teenager… … I keep them in a jar in the basement. Bada-ching! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/51 "2011-06-24T15:34:37Z")
They already have them in the U.K., they’re known as pictorial health warnings. Manky teeth, withered skin, clogged up lungs and what have you. They also have “SMOKING KILLS” written in big bold letters on the front, so I don’t know how much more obvious you can get. In an endless effort to try and dissuade people the government has announced that the want to make all cigarette patterns plain to make them less glamorous and remove them from shop shelves to make them less obvious and maybe a bit more taboo. I started a [poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=600015) about it it ages ago. The consensus being that if you’re a smoker you generally don’t give two shits if there’s a dead foetus coughing its guts up or whatever on the box, you’re more interested in the contents. The only plus point is that they’ll _maybe_ deter potential new smokers. To be honest, I think smoking is in a [natural decline](http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jan/22/health.smoking) anyway, no matter what you put on the box. In many years to come I imagine it’ll be come to be seen as something of an outdated eccentricity, like snuff boxes or pipe smoking. ---
**Author:** ![AbloyProtec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@AbloyProtec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbloyProtec)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/52 "2011-06-24T15:49:03Z")
No. When I get a pack that has one of these pictures on them, I’ll remove the plastic cover, hold the picture face down, and burn it black with my accompanying lighter. An added 5 second process to my daily routine once every few days, but the image won’t be there. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/53 "2011-06-24T15:51:15Z")
> [@AbloyProtec](#): > > hold the picture face down, and burn it black with my accompanying lighter. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/54 "2011-06-24T15:52:37Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > … to be seen as something of an outdated eccentricity, like snuff boxes or pipe smoking. What are you talking about? I still smoke a pipe! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/55 "2011-06-24T20:33:40Z")
> [@](#): > > To be honest, I think smoking is in a natural decline anyway, no matter what you put on the box. But how much of that decline is actually “natural”, and how much is due to efforts like this one? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/56 "2011-06-24T22:14:02Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] But how much of that decline is actually “natural”, and how much is due to efforts like this one? [/QUOTE] I think the effects of price have more to do with any decline in smoking than any pictures or warnings put on labels. The magical market at work once again. 😛 -XT ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/57 "2011-06-25T00:40:45Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I think the effects of price have more to do with any decline in smoking than any pictures or warnings put on labels. The magical market at work once again. 😛 After I started again, it was my Physician saying, “Keep this up, and you will die.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/58 "2011-06-25T06:35:21Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I think the effects of price have more to do with any decline in smoking than any pictures or warnings put on labels. The magical market at work once again. 😛 > > -XT But the increase in price is the result of government intentionally taxing these items heavily, so it is a government program that is causing a decline in smoking, just not the one in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/59 "2011-06-25T18:16:34Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > But the increase in price is the result of government intentionally taxing these items heavily, so it is a government program that is causing a decline in smoking, just not the one in the OP. They are killing the golden goose. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342/60 "2011-06-25T21:35:20Z")
It’s not exactly a golden goose, but on Friday the chest surgeon gifted us in Pathology with right middle and lower lobes of the right lung (maybe two-fifths of total lung tissue) from that guy in his thirties with the 20-year smoking history and a godawful squamous cell carcinoma that looks like it has a positive margin that will require post-op radiation. Maybe a nice photo of that would be good for cigarette packs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ugly-pics-on-cigarette-packs-make-you-stop/586342.md?page=4)