Attempting to restart the downward trend in cigarette smoking that has flattened out since 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released nine new warning labels that will now "adorn" cigarette packs and depict in graphic detail the negative health effects of tobacco use.
Rotting and diseased teeth and gums and a man smoking out of a tracheotomy hole will replace the cowboys and wild horses. The same approach will be applied to cigarette advertising and we will be seeing the results in autumn 2012.
This is an implementation of a 2009 law mandating more graphic health warnings. As the assorted warnings and graphics will cover 50 percent of the cigarette pack, it will be hard to avoid them.
The verbal warnings will escalate from the current clinical statement to the more direct and dramatic "Smoking Can Kill You"
For those galvanized to action by the message, the packs will also advertise an anti-smoking hot line for those wanting to quit the habit.
Israel, has been moving in the same direction and perhaps we will soon have an international competition on anti-smoking graphics.