Essay Sample on Cigarette Companies: Persuasive Ads, Quadrupled Spending

Each day, children and youths in America are exposed to many persuasive and carefully created commercial messages encouraging the use of cigarettes. Each year, companies are spending more and more to advertise their tobacco products. In the last 15 years, the tobacco industry has nearly quadrupled its marketing expenditure despite the decline in tobacco consumption (Robertson, Cameron, McGee, Marsh, & Hoek, 2016). Cigarette companies have gone as far as determining the smoking habits, desires, and tastes of their potential customers, then developing products and marketing strategies towards them. Several proposals have been made to make the sale of tobacco to children of a particular generation illegal. The plan does not affect current smokers, and it is only to create a smoking free generation.

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Marketing and promotion of tobacco are unethical as it influences even children to join smoking. Although tobacco companies say that they market their products to affect adult smokers to continue purchasing, the study shows that promotions and advertising influences children to take up smoking. Some of the reasons why the promotion of cigarettes is unethical are because the manufacturing countries know the harmful effect caused by tobacco, yet they are selling it to people. Research has shown that smoking cigarettes exposes one to diseases such as lung cancer, diabetes, and stroke. The cigarette companies continuously lie to their customers that smoking associates one with athletic prowess, professional success, sexual attractiveness independence, adult sophistication self-fulfillment, and adventure (Poussin et al., 2018). These misleading messages are appealing to young people and encourage them to take up smoking, which is harmful to their health. Young people are easily influenced by advertising to take up smoking. Tobacco companies see young people as replacement smokers to keep their business going. Cigarette companies consistently fight the restrictions put against advertising their products and often question the credibility of the peer-reviewed researches. The tobacco companies argue that they promote their products to make the already existing adult smokers change brands. After the examination of this claim based on economic evidence, the application is dismissed.

The experience of smoking is risky as it exposes one to many mental and physical diseases. Research shows that about five million people die annually due to smoking-related problems. By understanding the concept of smoking, one can make ethical judgments concerning tobacco. My own experience of smoking is one of a stressful journey to freedom from addiction. As a smoker, I spent a lot of time thinking of how much I wished I never smoked. In most of my free time, I was staring at the lit end of my cigarette. As time went by, I began becoming desperate to stop smoking at the same time I was desperate to smoke. Smoking made me sick, yet I still loved smoking. I hated the burn holes, yet I loved the smell of the smoke. I hated being told to quit smoking, yet I knew I should stop. These feelings made me feel sick. I started having bad coughs, and I could smoke two packets of cigarettes a single day. As time passed, I started breathing shallow. One day I decided enough is enough. I took a hard look at my lighter and cigarette and threw them away. I woke up from my bed and decided to seek help. Now my life has changed, I no longer smoke, and my life has taken a new path.

There are a few takeaways about smoking. First, the use of tobacco is the leading preventable cause of premature death in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cigarette smoking causes the highest number of deaths in the world that can easily be prevented (Carr, 2015). Another takeaway is that one-half of those who die due to smoking occur in their middle age. Today, the production of electronic cigarettes is seen as the right way of minimizing the effects of cigarettes. E-cigarettes are seen as a proper way of helping those who want to quit smoking. This information is backed by research done by medical organizations confirming that e-cigarettes can be used as an aid to stop smoking. Also, another takeaway is that nicotine smokers provided with nicotine without the harmful components of tobacco smoke reduce the detrimental effects of smoking. Nicotine is not the danger of cigarettes; other hazardous products found in tobacco are the problem. Governments should come up with better ways to ensure cigarette promotions are regulated to avoid young people from joining the life-threatening behavior.

Smoking is harmful to one's health. It is known to cause several diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, and diabetes. There should be proper regulations to prevent young people from being enticed by tobacco companies to start the dangerous habit of smoking. There should also be better ways of rehabilitating those who want to quit smoking. There are a lot of benefits to not smoking. Several countries, such as the United Kingdom, have banned the advertising and promotion of tobacco smoking. However, there are still some countries such as Russia and Singapore, where the development of tobacco happens. It should be stopped as its not ethical. The promotions are seen to have a negative influence on young people who join smoking, thinking that it is going to empower them.

References

Carr, A. (2015). Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking: Read this book, and you'll never smoke a cigarette again. Penguin UK.

Poussin, C., Spinelli, S. L., Curran, T. M., Baglia, L. A., Berg, R., Ansari, S., ... & Peitsch, M. C. (2018). A clinical research investigation on the effects of cigarette smoking, e-cigarette vaping, and smoking cessation on vascular cell biology. Atherosclerosis; 275.

Robertson, L., Cameron, C., McGee, R., Marsh, L., & Hoek, J. (2016). Point-of-sale tobacco promotion and youth smoking: a meta-analysis. Tobacco Control, 25(e2), e83-e89.