New graphic cigarette warns might discourage smokers

And then again, according to this article in Discover, they might not. Check the comments to see the counter-research, as well as ever-more skirmishes in the ongoing American culture-wars.

To the extent that graphic warnings don’t discourage smokers, I’ll rack this up as one of the many many many counter-intuitive things scientists have discovered about human beings.

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Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth is an attorney focusing on civil rights (including First Amendment), consumer law litigation and appellate practice. At this website often writes about censorship, corporate news media corruption and cognitive science. He is also a working musician, artist and a writer, having founded Dangerous Intersection in 2006. Erich lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his two daughters.

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  1. Avatar of Niklaus Pfirsig
    Niklaus Pfirsig

    When the original cancer warning was required on cigarettes, the tobacco companies initially fought it tooth and nail, but after the law went into effect, their sales actually increased.

    Maybe smokers interpreted the warning as "The Man" telling them what to do, maybe they rationalized from a gamblers viewpoint, each thinking he would be the lucky one, maybe they were simply in denial.

    In any case, I suspect much research was done by private sector marketing firms to understanding this quirk of social psychology to sell stuff.

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