Cigarette warning label impacts and
innovations around the world
Gives a offending impression towards tobacco,
which is said to
Prevent new smokers from smoking.
There
were many differences of the warning labels between
countries. First was the size of the labels.
The country which has the largest warning label was Uruguay which covers about
80% of the product. The smallest wasn’t mentioned supposedly because there are
countries which has no warning label in tobaccos. Second was the difference of
how they warn. The tobacco in Brazil used only the back of the box but the
tobacco in
Mexico used the whole box to warn the health problem when a person smokes tobacco.
Mexico used the whole box to warn the health problem when a person smokes tobacco.
Finally the difference of the effect was
introduced. The warning label used in Brazil wasn’t effective since the smoking
rate rised. On the other hand, the label in America had effect since it deducted
the rate of the smoking population.
The
results and graphs of the effect of the warning labels between countries in the
documentary seemed less reliable. They should have done the investigation of
the warning labels should have been done in the same country. If it was done in
a different country, the effects will differ since the literacy rate and other
things will differ.
The
most effective way introduced in the documentary seemed effective but
personally, as a smoker, felt offended. The pictures in the label looked
grotesque. It seemed to be telling that every smoker would become like the
picture. I think if the picture was used in Japan, there would be a trial
between the tobacco company and the smoking people, or the non smoking people
also because the picture is creepy. The method of using offensive picture may
only work in America.
Overall
I thought that the warning label used right now in Japan is in the best shape.
It doesn’t offend the Japanese people too much but in the same time warns about
the health risks of smoking. The tobacco warning used in other countries is
also useful.
The companies should think about the the
characteristics of the people in the country which they sell.
links to the documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG_McwWkvZ4
This is an interesting review and I'm glad you learned several things from the video. It's fascinating that in Uruguay the warning covers 80% of the cigarette packaging. Many people in Japan might be surprised that images, some of them quite graphic, are used in foreign countries to discourage people from smoking.
返信削除You say that you would be offended by the approach of using a grotesque image of someone who's suffering from the effects of smoking (cancer of the mouth or lips, for example, that can really disfigure someone), and that you prefer Japan's more gentle approach which doesn't offend anyone. I think that health authorities and anti-smoking activists would say "Isn't it better to risk offending someone rather than letting them shorten their lives and get seriously sick or expose their friends and family members to cancer-causing substances"?
I think you have to be careful about claiming that a particular labeling method worked because the number of smokers decreased in a certain country. Usually, a whole range of methods are used to reduce smoking, so it's hard to say if 100% of the change was due to any one particular method. For example, I would guess that in Japan the rules about smoking while walking decreased the numbers of smokers and the amount that they smoked. If a change in cigarette labeling happened at the same time, it would be hard to know which contributed more to a drop in the number of smokers.
I wonder if women are more affected by a certain style of cigarette warning label. Women are said to be the largest growing sub-group of smokers, so this will be an important question.
Cheers,
Joseph D.