{"id":154940,"date":"2025-11-23T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/154940\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T06:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:00:10","slug":"anti-smoking-image-perceived-by-some-as-cool-or-sexy-irish-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/154940\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-smoking image perceived by some as \u2018cool\u2019 or \u2018sexy\u2019, Irish study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The findings have raised concern among public health experts about the unintended consequences of EU-\u00admandated picture warnings designed to reduce smoking rates.<\/p>\n

The research, led by a team at the Technological University of the \u00adShannon (TUS), examined reactions to one image of a woman exhaling cigarette smoke. It revealed that despite the intended purpose, to deter use, some of those surveyed reported \u00adpositive emotional responses.<\/p>\n

The study, which surveyed 607 \u00adpeople in Ireland, asked individuals to \u00addescribe their response to one of 14 EU warning images, which was viewed as open to interpretation. Over half (54pc) reacted negatively to the image, using words such as \u201cdeath\u201d, \u201canxiety\u201d, \u201cstress\u201d and \u201cself-harm\u201d.<\/p>\n

In contrast, 22pc of respondents reported the image evoked feelings of relaxation, calm and peacefulness.<\/p>\n

Overall, just over a quarter, or 28pc of respondents, found the image \u00adappealing in some way.<\/p>\n

\"Stark<\/p>\n

Stark warnings appear on cigarette packets by law. Photo: Getty<\/p>\n

Among these, 40 described the image as \u201cstylish,\u201d \u201ccool\u201d or \u201cclassy\u201d while others felt it made smoking appear attractive or enjoyable. In the study, published in The BMJ, eight people \u00adlabelled the image \u00ad\u201cseductive\u201d or \u201csexy\u201d.<\/p>\n

The research team \u2013 including \u00adAlwalid Ali of the University of \u00adLimerick and Ben Houghton and Jennifer \u00adMoran Stritch of TUS \u2013 said the findings highlight the need for careful design and review of tobacco warning images to ensure they do not unintentionally glamorise smoking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is strong evidence that combined text and graphic warnings are an effective part of tobacco control measures,\u201d the authors noted. \u201cLike many countries, Ireland\u2019s smoking rate has declined significantly in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors acknowledged \u00adlimitations in the study, including the absence of accompanying warning text and the predominantly student sample.<\/p>\n

Nearly three-quarters of participants were non-smokers, but positive interpretations were reported across all demographic groups.<\/p>\n

They recommend future warning images undergo pilot testing to assess the potential for unintended positive associations before being approved.<\/p>\n

Under EU law, tobacco packaging must display combined text and \u00adpictorial warnings covering at least 65pc of the pack\u2019s main surfaces. These warnings are designed to inform \u00adconsumers about the dangers of smoking and deter tobacco use.<\/p>\n

The same research team recently highlighted separate concerns around Ireland\u2019s tobacco-control system, after finding just 1pc of reported breaches of tobacco legislation resulted in convictions. Their analysis of 10 years of enforcement data showed more than 23,000 recorded violations between 2014 and 2023, yet just 267 prosecutions were successful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The findings have raised concern among public health experts about the unintended consequences of EU-\u00admandated picture warnings designed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3414,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-154940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-department-of-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}