I mentioned the subliminal marketing undertaken by cigarette companies earlier in the month. Smoking will now be banned in all indoor public places in England from 1st of July. Smoking was banned in Scotland and Wales in March 2006 and April 2007 respectively.
You could be fined £50 on the spot if caught smoking in pubs, restaurants and bars.

Here are some messages which smokers see on a daily basis but probably don’t read them:

Smokers die younger

Smoking clogs the arteries and causes heart attacks and strokes

Protect children: don’t make them breathe your smoke

Smoking may reduce the blood flow and causes impotence

Smoking clogs the arteries and causes heart attacks and strokes

Smoking is highly addictive, don’t start!

Smoking when pregnant harms your baby.

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Robert O’Conner (Director at Motoring News) weighed 19st last christmas hopes to raise £3000 for the Play and Resource Centre, a purpose built activity centre for disabled youngsters in Briantree, when he competes in the triathlon at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on 2nd June 2007. He used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes but quit last year and started training to compete in the triathlon which is 20km bike ride, 5km run and 750m swim. He has lost 3st since January and completely given up smoking.

He was motivated to take on the challenge by the circumstances of his godson Joshua Campbell (1yr old), who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Robert says: “I am God father to my business partner’s son, who is severely disabled with cerebral palsy and profound deafness.  My aim is to raise money which will go directly to Parc and enable the best possible care for Joshua Campbell.”

So guys, please sponsor Robert and help PARC with your donations here: https://secure.efundraising.org.uk/tailored/donation.asp?charity=72728

You can visit PARC here: www.parc-essex.org

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Shoemoney smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day because in those days they probably didn’t have smoke signals or fake cigarettes and I bet he would have continued smoking had he found the girl with a cigarette. I do not encourage smoking and would recommend people to quit smoking.

Cigarette advertising has become very difficult due to various laws, but these companies are now beginning to find alternate and subliminal ways to promote their products.

A spy camera inside a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and a chinese mobile phone (which includes a microSD card slot, MP3 player, camera AND a compartment for holding cigarettes) are some examples where technology is being used as a medium for these companies to promote and increase visibility.

But what I found most fascinating was how the Gallaher group (who owns Benson and Hedges amongst several other brands) is using their cigarette boxes to start a conversation. You can only see a small symbol when you open the pack, but once you have smoked all the cigarettes, you can then tear open the pack and look at the full picture inside. Now aren’t these companies trying to make the smokers smoke more cigarettes so that they can tear the pack open and look inside if the small symbol has made them curious enough ?

Here are some of the examples:

If colour could talk, what would it say ?

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