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Updated 3.44pm
(Youtube: Irish Cancer Society)
ONE THIRD CLASS pupil at Tallaght’s Scoil Aonghusa reckons “they do fancy stuff just to get you to smoke, ” while another says the current designs of cigarette packets are “kind-of bribey — they bribe you to get you to buy them”.
However, given a look at a sample selection of the new ‘plain packs’, set to be brought in as part of Health Minister James Reilly’s anti-smoking drive, the pupils reactions are markedly different.
Faced with the new designs that include graphic images of health conditions caused by smoking, one boy says “It’s not good. I don’t like it”. His classmate thinks “the eye one looks a bit freaky”.
Another pupil sums it all up (as nine-year-olds tend to) with two simple questions: “Why do people do it? Like, and why do they make smokes in the first place?”
The video was put together by the Irish Cancer Society to show the impact of branding on children. The Society says the clip “backs up what a body of research has shown — branded packs appeal to children as young as nine who are attracted by brightly-coloured packs and innovative design”.
In a statement today, Reilly said the children are questioning why it is people would begin to smoke at all.
“If we can put young people off smoking, even for a couple of years, the evidence suggests that they may not develop this killer addiction at all,” he said.
“This video is fascinating in that it shows clearly the degree to which the children are repelled by standardised packaging and more importantly express negative views about the smoking habit.”
The new standardised cigarette packs [Image: ICS]
However, smoking lobby group Forest Éireann maintains the video proves nothing. According to spokesman John Mallon: ”A box of Benson & Hedges might look like a shiny bar of gold to a child but a mouth of rotting teeth on a box would appear repulsive to them”.
“It does not tell us about their future buying habits though when they have their own money nor does it even suggest a trend in their lifestyle choices.”
The new packs are expected to arrive in shops next year, and are part of a range of measures being introduced by the Health Minister in his strategy of ‘denormalising’ smoking.
The Irish Cancer Society is holding a Twitter chat on the issue of plain packaging this evening at 8pm.
First published 1.24pm
Some comedian (Sean Locke?) suggested that the warning on cigarette boxes should read…..
“One of these cigarettes has been stuck up someones backside”
That might do it.
Very simple idea, and hey, it has the benefit of employing extra people
I mean somebody’s arse has to be used for each pack :P
Doesn’t seem to work with drugs though. Internal concealment by ‘drug mules’ and dealers, who are more likely than most to have diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis doesn’t seem to put people off using and even injecting drugs. Scaring and horrifying the public has been a complete failure in preventing substance abuse.
It worked with me. The pictures made me stop.
Okay, watch the video with YouTube automatic subtitles on, and watch from 1:00 onwards… It just can’t get the Irish accent…
Lizzy I didn’t realise tons were smuggled in someone’s anal cavity.
Mickey the gimp would smoke it anyway
‘Why do they makes smokes??’
That’s the ultimate question. If a company made something now that we were told was highly addictive to the majority who use it and we’re told that the health risks were like those from smoking, there’s no way it would be made legal and patented.
Were not we’re!
they make them because they make you look cool.
Sure that’s as good a reason as any!
I’m correcting my own grammar folks. No need to get arsey!
I just forked out nearly E200 on electronic cigs and cartridges. Making the switch today. Tried them before and they worked well for me, but my local supermarket couldn’t keep them in stock so I’d end up in trouble every few weeks. This time, I’m doing it right.
Best of luck Lucinda. You CAN quit. When you’re out, don’t tell people you’re off the smokes. Just tell them you don’t smoke. That way, you won’t get asked loads of questions and you won’t start thinking about cigs.
Thanks Tommy – I’m smoking 20 years, 40 a day minimum last few years, way more if I’m having a few drinks at weekends. The ecigs are great, but I need 4 rechargeable ones, whereas most smokers get by with 2. I’m too scatty to remember to charge them, and I’m my own worst enemy in that regard.
Tommy c, we’re is correct in that sentence, as is both the other two were in the same sentence.
Lucinda, I’m on the electronic ciggies for the last 3 weeks. Like you 35/40 a day to zero. But seriously, €200? That’s madness Ted! I wen’t with the VIP Pro which I bought in Stephen’s Green, the ciggie and 2 bottles of oil (equivalent of 1,200 smokes) came to about 75 lids…. Anyway, you can do!
Oh – I bought in bulk Simon. Big time. I’ve gone through 4 or 5 brands with varying degrees of success. The problem has always been supply for me. So, I took the plunge, ordered online. I don’t remember exactly how many cartridges etc I ordered all in all, but’s it’s the rechargeable cigs and accessories that pushed the price up.
Still, E200 is worth it if it keeps me smoke free for a few months til I break the habit entirely.
Two things to remember when quitting.
1. The oncology wards in the hospice
2. The rich tobacco executive on his boat off Antigua wants you to fail.
That was my motivation. It’ll be the biggest favour you ever do yourself. Good luck.
I’ll keep that in mind Anthony.
When they’re changing your bed sheets from the white ones to the red ones in the hospice because your throat tumour is about to explode it’s too late. Remember those 3 things and you’ll be grand! Good luck again
Sorry don’t agree, look at every processed food in the supermarket and every fizzy drink….!!! All processed to be highly addictive and yet have huge health complications.
They’re not addictive
They sell all them cigs and stuff that comes with them in the liberty market near Meath street if your ever stuck you could try there my mum got them there last week not sure what she bought but she got the cigaret some bottle of stuff to put in it maybe 2 not sure but it came to 70 euro don’t know if this is cheap or not as I don’t smoke myself but he had a lot of stuff there
Yes they are….do you know how many teaspoons of sugar is in a fizzy drink….over ten. Do you know that Sugar has the same reaction in the brain as cocaine does….proven 100% scientifically. And for the food Monosodium glutamate…has many different names…..again…all about addiction. Once you addict you have a repeat customer. I highly recommend educating oneself about what one eats….you won’t believe what is in your food.
Ciaran, I think Tommy C was correct. “we’re” is same as “we are”, whereas “were” is past tense?
That doesn’t qualify as an addiction.
Hi Lucinda, I am on the e-cigs 13 months now and I buy them online.
I was a cigarette smoker for 35 years, 20 a day gal. Had to go for an operation in January ’13 – full x-rays and tests done on lungs etc., turns out my lungs are totally clear as if I had never smoked. Go figure !
Clear lungs after 13 months is amazing… Well done! I’m feeling the effects after only 3 weeks, I’m coughing up some amount of sh!te at the minute (but that could be partially do to with having had manflu last week)
Simon, it was after only 4 months – still can’t figure it out myself
This change isn’t going to have an immediate effect. Nobody’s going to stop smoking overnight. And, yes, the black market will profit from the budget increase. But, over time, the effect will be felt in a change in the public attitude to smoking. The only thing that will stop smokers is cultural change. Yes, I was a smoker a long time ago.
Well done you Angela! That’s great news and very encouraging to me too as I’m concerned about my own health right now, smoking related, but I think I may have pushed too far if you know what I mean.
Think it looked like someone was being arsy with you Lol that’s why people (like myself) hit thumbs down befor seeing it was you again!! Think people were actually backing you up.. You had a very good comment! ;)
So when are they going to change the fancy dress up for all the alcohol? WKD comes in blue and purple surely that is attractive to kids. Should they put pictures of car crashes caused by drunk drivers to remind you not to drink and drive?
I can imagine the picture. Having a fancy dinner party and then out comes the wine with the new government approved label. Dinner reappears on table again….
So does toilet cleaner… And yes, it has been linked to children ingesting same.
Even as an adult, I’ve been tempted by the sweet smell of Lidl laundry detergent.
Maybe I should of read this article after I finished my hot chicken roll…
Should HAVE read it
maybe you should read about what goes into your hot chicken roll before you do anything :0 that said..I’d kill for one right about now..
Muppet.
Shite sticks the grammar nazi out in force. Clown!!
MupPEH
*are out in force… :-)
Me ma dosen get dem from de shop a fella in the green sells her wans from Tuckey
;) laugh a little folks, does the world of good.
Those photographs are on Australian ciggie packs. A whole variety of disturbing images – theyre all placed behind a press with a simple sign saying ‘smoking products available’. Not sure it hass helped much although lifestyle where i am in 100 times more health and fitness focused with weather being decent most of the time
they are dumb images, anyone ever met a smoker who looks like the extreme images. Also its too late if it gets to the stage where a kid has a box in their hands, the groundwork needs to be done in the years before , visit to a cancer ward, classroom talk by someone who has lost a lung etc.
Silverharp, we all know someone who has died from cancer but people still smoke.
@Tommy C , I know but people are unlikely to start smoking after the age of 18 , the main target of anything should be 12-18 age group, adults can make up their own minds. As someone said above who is selling cigarettes to under age kids? as a parent could I have someone prosecuted for attempting to facilitate my kids smoking (despite my best attempts to ensure it doesnt happen)?
Agreed. If I caught someone giving cigs to my kids I would absolutely get them charged.
Yeah but I know people who died from cancer and didn’t smoke. Several in fact. When I was a kid I got older people to buy me alchol and cigerettes from the off license so I would think its a bit rich for me start prosecuting people for doing the exact same.
Someone should open a shop selling cigarette containers, they could make a fortune when this comes in!
Wholesalers are ALREADY stocking cigarette pack holders – trust me on this!
I can do that, hold my cigarette!
Can’t wait for all the smokers to be gone then we can all go attack the fatties. And God knows Ireland has enough of them. Eating food like it’s going out of fashion. Taking up my personnel space in shops. And then when they are gone we can get the drinkers. Those loud piss heads that you see drinking at 10am. I bet they smoke too. We can have the pleasure of getting them twice. Grow up and mind your business. Fix yourself and the smokers will sort themselves out. F#@kin nanny state.
People keep going on about making it unattractive to children. Children can not legally purchase cigarettes in this country. Can we look at the real issue here for once. It’s far too easy for children to get their hands on cigarettes , no matter what colour packet they come in. Let’s tackle the enablers instead wasting so much time and effort on a gimmick that’s probably going to have little effect. Let’s tackle the shopkeepers that sell to kids, the bloke outside that buys them for them, the woman on the corner selling counterfeit cigarettes. We were told bigger health warnings would work, they didn’t. We were told grotesque pictures would work, they didn’t. Does anyone really believe plain packaging will?
They did work though. Myself and several others I know stopped because of the constant reminders from the pictures.
I’m glad it worked for you Anthony, but I’m afraid any evidence to support those measures is purely anecdotal. Either way, I think you’re missing my point. I think our government would be far better served using our resources stopping the supply of cigarettes to kids in the first place.
I work with the Cancer Society so wanted to chip in. Warnings on packs and a range of tobacco control measures have worked. Our smoking rate has dropped from 29% in 2007 to 22% in 2012. Plain packs will help decrease this further and will particularly reduce the smoking rate in children and young people. There’s also a lot of evidence to show that plain packs make health warnings more impactful as branding can’t distract from their message.
That statistic doesn’t prove anything in relation to packaging. The statistic also coincides with recession, mass emigration of the demographic with the highest percentage of smokers and a general change in peoples attitudes towards smoking. Also, when broken down, the number of heavy smokers have declined, while the number of light and occasional smokers has increased. This points towards a rise in people cutting down, which in turn, given the current climate, points towards a fiscal reason for the reduction. I have no issue with initiatives to stop young people smoking, on the contrary, I encourage them. My issue here is time, money and resources being wasted on something that is nothing more than a gimmick. As the old saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”. Why don’t we do what we can to stop kids having a cigarette pack in their hands in the first place, instead of trying to discourage when it’s already too late.
I agree that prevention is better than cure Keith- that’s exactly what this policy is about. Unfortunately young people are getting their hands on packs – 80% of smokers start before they are 18. We need to stop children getting packs in the first place and we need to make packs as unappealing as possible so they don’t want them. There is lots of information here which shows plain packs aren’t a gimmick http://phrc.lshtm.ac.uk/papers/PHRC_006_Final_Report.pdf
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen someone from the cancer society post a link to the sterling review. It’s seems to be your go-to study. Yet, you commissioned your on study and it remains unpublished. Might this http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.ie/2013/10/that-irish-plain-packs-study.html?m=1 be why?
Undertakers should advertise on the packets with special discounts on funeral costs for terminal illnesses caused by tobacco!
I think they’d be better selling them in completely plain white packaging with the name in a simple black font and a simple health warning. It would have the desired effect of not making the packets attractive to children without offending those who’s ‘right’ it is to smoke. I can really imagine people wanting to collect the ghoulish packets that are being proposed especially certain groups of children. You only have to look at the stuff currently available for Hallowe’en or the best selling ‘Horrible Histories’ children’s series to see how they might appeal.
I disagree,
By you’re very logic all children would collect horror movies,
They don’t, the likes of Horrible Histories are actually marketed and targeted at children, they are made purely with children in mind.
Cigs are not and anything that makes them less appealing, as the video has clearly shown is very much a good thing.
I said certain groups of children, not all children and I know several children who like horror movies and gore. I personally feel that they should be boring to all rather than attractive to any. And the ghoulish packets, in my opinion, would appeal to some.
Shannon and Martin – either which way I don’t want my child seeing those packages when we walk into a shop or up to his grang mother. Christ! I don’t like looking at them…..
PS I’m a non smoker.
@Shannon – I was thinking the same thing, particularly about SOME teenagers who might think these packages are ‘cool’…
By being ”boring” you’re hiding the horrific diseases 50% of those who smoke will die from. Dumb idea
Has nobody noticed that it is not legal to display them in shops?
They make smokes because grown ups enjoy them, you little brats.
So cigarette cases are back on fashion
Minister are so detached they think they can run your life for you does the Boston tea party mean anything
What’s the point of commenting if it doesn’t go straight to the minister does he not see they tried drunk free America once and it back fired
The government are just slowly pushing people to illegal tobacco products….
Didnt read the article, but those packages are brilliant. I think its a step in the right direction. The foot was the best. The message is delivered with a punch. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Cool so we are now reporting on the brain washing in our primary schools. That’s all this is and I don’t even smoke(anymore). Why not teach the kids their lessons and don’t give them homework instead of showing them cigarettes. Lazy teachers. Back in my day it was a doss when the teacher brought in the tv, now I guess it’s fags, and is it drink or weed next week?!
It’s a compulsory part of the curriculum, it’s their job to teach it. They cover road safety, healthy eating, personal hygiene, alcohol and drug awareness, sex education, self esteem, leadership, conflict resolution… it’s called SPHE or social personal and health education.
Would like to see them ask the same questions without shoving the boxes in the children’s faces first.
They are not being shoved in children’s faces. They are not on display in shops.
They should put writing on the cigarettes themselves
Slight flaw in your reasoning there Sandra – they burn away :)
I was definitely drawn in by the glamour of carrying around a box or Marlboro Lights in my pocket, and I was just a teen at the time… i’m lucky to be one of the few who managed to quit.
Me too. If u don’t have to pay, I won’t pay as the tax I pay goes into pensions and massive lump sums for public sector 50 year olds. That is immoral as much as it is a fundamental betrayal of the social contract. So it is right to evade/avoid tax where possible until this government’s grows some balls abd tackles the PS unions for once and for all.
Good luck with giving them up lucinda, along with being crazy money there so unhealthy and the smell off you when u smoke is really bad… I wish u the best of luck a i know its never easy but keep positive and you will get there…. I wasn’t a heavy smoker by no means when i did smoke but i still felt so much better when i gave them up and its nice to walk in to a pub now without being clouded by smoke everywhere,,,,
SO, WHY ARE WE NOT DOING THE SAME WITH ALCOHOL ?
Tobacco, whilst hideously harmful, is just being used by the government as a scapegoat to increase tax on drink, witch is the cause of VERY similar rates of illnesses as a result of it’s consumption. it all seems massively hypocritical to me. Probably because it is.
We have a smoking lobby!?!?
I’ve never actually tried a cigarette. True (boring) story. I presume it’s like all those meats I’ve never tried and it “tastes like chicken”?
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