Images of rotting lips, healthy-versus-charred lungs and a man with smoke oozing out of a hole in his throat will soon grace the covers of cigarette packages, but two University of Missouri researchers say the gruesome warnings likely won’t keep people from lighting up.
Starting in September 2012, the Food and Drug Administration will require cigarette packs and advertisements to show prominent images of health problems associated with smoking. The visual warnings are part of a broader strategy to help people stop smoking and to keep youngsters from starting, according to the FDA.
Paul Bolls and Glenn Leshner, both on the Missouri School of Journalism faculty, aren’t confident the graphic pictures will work.
In a study published in the Journal of Media Psychology, they found people tend to get defensive and tune out information when gruesome images are over- the-top.
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