Since 2004 Singapore has mandated that all cigarette packs carry graphics of what smoking can do. The first graphics carried diseased lungs and bleeding brains. In 2006, new graphics of miscarried fetus and a cheek eaten away by cancer were introduced. Studies showed that warning labels become stale over time. These extremely gross graphics are meant to instill fear of smoking. Survey showed that 40% become fearful of smoking after seeing the graphics.
Recently, the government also introduced a TV ad of smoker cancer patient but the video was so scary that it frightened children and as a result the ad was taken off. These kind of pictorial message are very effective and I think it is a simple way to keep young people away from harmful effects of smoking. This approach has not been tried in Bhutan. Instead, we went straight for the ban, which does not seem to be working.
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