At on end of the burning cigarette we have consumers who know that smoking is bad for health and still keep smoking , in spite of the ban on ads in TV, and increasing prices the consumption has been going up. On the other end we have large corporate houses with huge marketing budgets willing to go after the consumer to achieve their sales growth figures....
In the last few months we have had a lot of coverage on the efforts being made to reduce the consumption of cigarettes among the youth. The initiatives include,
1. Adopting a visual representation on the covers of Beedis and cigarettes to indicate that
they are injurious to health. On this issue I have written earlier, and the initiative has not been implimented, due to various reasons, including the pressure from the Beedi Lobby. The initiative makes sense looking at its utility in beedis where many consumers might be litterate to read a written warning.2. The banning of smoking on screen. The recent plea made by Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss to Sharukh Khan has gone unheeded. The logic is said to be the fact that many youngsters take up to smoking influenced by watching their movie heroes smoke. Though it very easy to blame the entertainment industry for the ills of smoking and drinking , but is it the solution.
3. The latest is the survey which points to the role of family members in inducing youth into smoking. The survey points to the fact 35 per cent have one or more parent who smoke thus conditioning their mind towards a casual attitude towards smoking.
The survey also brought out that smoking prevalence amongst youths in 2000 was 4.8 per cent which catapulted upto 15.9 per cent in 2006, it points to the urgent need for prevention of smoking , because most of the people who get addicted find it very difficult to kick-off the habit.
People like Seth Godin have criticized Marlboro for glamorizing smoking and making this addictive habit a fashion statement among many younger consumers. Marketing is a very powerful tool which can be used for the good as well as bad, but the question of how can it be used to persuade consumers to stop smoking or rather not to take up to smoking is the note at which i would like to end this blog and hoping to get responses from readers, out of which i would post some of them back in the blog in the next few days....Comments and Suggestion ..............
sir, it must be left to the people to decide what is good for them or not. I ask why are we targetting just smoking? We can target Cheese (for its fat content, as Heart Attack is a no. 1 killer right now), or perhaps even Airplanes (for crashes)... People know what are the pros and cons of smoking. Marketers have every right to market their goods. sigarettes are also goods and deserve to be marketed. What is the use of banning cigarette ads and allowing te companies to flourish? If the Govt, is indeed concerned about the people, ban cigarettes altogether....
ReplyDeleteAs it was shown in the movie "Thank You For Smoking", individuals make choices on their own, based on the information given to them. Ppl are awre of the dangers. So it their individual decision only....
ReplyDeleteWhen we consider the ignorance of some of the smoking populace and the illiteracy of many of the poor smokers, we can have a warning label (like the skull and cross-bones) to emphasize danger. Poor ppl will continue to smoke beedis - They are not influenced by the Shah-Rukhs and Salmans. The Govt. can educate them of the dangers of smoking. a programme on a mass scale can do wonders. If banning smoking on-screen can have any effect, education and warning will have a hundred-fold effect...
ReplyDeleteIt is the responsibility of the parents to tell their kids about the dangers of smoking so that they can make a choice when they grow up. If the parents do not do that small thing, why blame any indutry for the matter? Smoking causes only physical harm, but there are many things which cause both physical and mental harm... Still ppl use them. If parents cannot stop that, then no one can.
ReplyDeleteMarketers have every right to promote their products. Govt, if it is indeed so concerned, should stop cigarette production completely, else allow them do their own job. Educate people by putting more ads and banners. Educate poor ppl by rural programmes also... Then take any action if necessary...
In December 2004, a study was published by the Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal that alarmed physicians. This U.S survey suggests that despite years of consumer education in print and TV ads and in-office patient education, the great majority of smokers are misinformed about the health risks of their habit. http://www.chantixhome.com/
ReplyDeleteHey there,
ReplyDeletenice blog
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