Going graphic: shock photos on German cigarette packs
Germany's most recent legislation is in line with the motto for World No Tobacco Day 2016: Get ready for plain packaging. Photos of tumors and rotten teeth now grace German cigarette packs as well.
The slogan's not enough
Until recently, cigarette packs in Germany only came with slogans like "Smoking kills." But now tobacco companies have to cover two thirds of the packaging with deterrent images. With the new law, Germany is implementing a 2014 EU regulation. "Our goal is to prevent young people from starting to smoke," Social Democrat drug policy spokesman Burkhard Blienert said.
Possible new design
German smokers could now face images like this one. Two thirds of a pack will have to be covered by a picture - and rotting teeth are a visceral deterrent. Cigarettes and tobacco with picture-less packaging produced until May 2016 are allowed on store shelves for one year. After that, there will be no escaping the gruesome images.
Fighting the smoke
The German government also passed a bill that will ban cigarette ads on public billboards, posters and in movie theaters that show films for anyone younger than 18 years of age. Politicians hope that this measure will help keep young people from ever reaching for a cigarette in the first place. The German motto for World No Tobacco Day 2016 is "No room for toxic messages."
Australia, the pioneer
Lawmakers down under went even further in their regulation of cigarette packaging. Since 2012, all cigarette packs in Australia come with large graphic warnings against smoking - and without any logos. France is set to introduce similar rules at the end of 2016.
Going neutral is contentious
The neutral packaging allows brand names only in a small, non-distinct font at the bottom of the pack. The color of the pack is the same for all brands and images cover more than the German mandatory two thirds of a pack. French tobacco companies are not amused by this prospect: the producer of Gauloises, Imperial Tobacco daughter Seita, announced they will sue.
Smoking will "die down eventually"
Opponents of the graphic images on cigarette packs say they won't keep smokers from lighting up. But proponents hope to deter people who haven't smoked before from picking up a pack. "If [smoking]'s not associated with nice things via pretty packaging or advertising anymore, it's going to die down eventually," psychologist Christoph Kröger predicts.