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In the recent past, cigarette advertisers freely promoted the image of smoking as being sophisticated. Now that there is cast- iron proof of the risks smokers run—and stringent curbs have been placed on cigarette advertising—things are not so simple for the tobacco companies. They now have to advertise their products more obliquely. Sponsorship of sport—however ironic it may be — is one of the principal means they employ, although there is widespread criticism of the practice. And of course we are all familiar with those advertisements which tell us more about the creative flair of the advertising agencies who make the ads, than about the cigarettes themselves. Not a pretty sight—and not a pretty smell. But far more important than these aesthetic considerations, cigarettes are dangerous to your health.

Smoking is a social habit: the pleasure comes from relaxing in the company of others, and not just from smoking. Appealing, too, are the accoutrements of smoking found in the traditional tobacconist’s shop. Peer group influence also plays a part: if your friends smoke and pressurize you to, you may well succumb. But as these posters clearly show, smoking is a lethal threat not just to smokers, but also to their unborn children. Cigarette sales in Great Britain In the 1970s, the overwhelming evidence that cigarette smoking lay behind a host of diseases—from chronic bronchitis to heart disease to cancer of the mouth, lung and bladder—finally began to make an impact on the public. Cigarette sales in Great Britain have been steadily tailing off ever since.