Slog - Comments on The Surgeon General Is a Pussy

Comment by thecandyqueen

thecandyqueen — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:34:44 -0800

I just saw the same thing at the duty free shop in Tel Aviv. Priceless!

Comment by Nosmo King

Nosmo King — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:37:39 -0800

These large, direct warnings are common all over the European Economic Community. My favourite one is something like "SMOKING CAUSES IMPOTENCY, AND DAMAGES YOUR SPERM CELLS". But the most common (in Deutschland) is "RAUCHEN KANN T�DLICH SEIN" (Smoking can kill you). Sounds much more authoritative that way.

Comment by laterite

laterite — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:43:04 -0800

Nothing beats the warnings on ciggy packs in Thailand.

Comment by Sean

Sean — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:00:09 -0800

Hungarian Marlboro Lights? Why is it in English then? Did we invade them?

Comment by demolator

demolator — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:03:04 -0800

Wait- what does ecce homo think about this?

Comment by Art

Art — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:14:51 -0800

Pretty certain those are English ciggies - not sure what they would have been doing in Hungary.

Comment by jz

jz — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:49:03 -0800

they were purchased in budapest during benni hemm hemms recent european tour.

Comment by sketchy homo

sketchy homo — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:53:52 -0800

@5: Ecce homo is out on a smoke break, and I'm sure will venture his/her opinion shortly.

Comment by Mike of Renton

Mike of Renton — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:18:39 -0800

@5,8: And I'd bet that whatever the comment will be will have some racist aspect to it, possibly regarding the smoking habits of certain south Seattle residents.

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:30:53 -0800

What are the smoking habits of certain south seattle residents?

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:33:34 -0800

I where have I been "racist"? I oppose racism and homophobia everywhere I look. I do happen to notice quite a bit of it hiding just below the surface in some of the posts and comments on SLOG. Perhaps you bring the subject up out of some desire to provoke a race debate. So who really is the racist? You perhaps?

Comment by Gabriel

Gabriel — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:39:45 -0800

British labels are blunt too, e.g. "Smoking will kill you."

Comment by Donovan

Donovan — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:49:57 -0800

Australian labels have full-colour photos of smoking-related disgustingness such as gangrene, clogged arteries from a heart-attack victim, and tumours. They make me want to start smoking.

Comment by lostboy

lostboy — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 04:19:54 -0800

@9, you successfully trolled the troll. nicely done.

EH: YHBT YHL HAND

Comment by maxsolomon

maxsolomon — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:55:13 -0800

mike @ 9:

can you try & use the words "bigoted" &/or "predjudiced" instead of "rascist"? its more reflective of the reality of race relations in 'murka.

like this: "i've noticed that black people only smoke menthol cigarettes. let me amend that to SOME black people, i don't want to come off as a bigot."

Comment by Christine

Christine — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:37:04 -0800

The reason our packs say "may" cause cancer (rather then the blunt wording of other countries' packs) is because the American tobacco companies wrote the legislation.

If they say "may" then 1. they can't be held responsible for anyone dying of lung cancer, because smokers were informed that there might be risks 2. at the time the legislation was written, they could continue to pretend that the link between smoking and cancer was not proved.

The word "may" is there both to confuse smokers about the health effects of smoking, and to cover the tobacco companies' asses. It's a brilliant piece of PR.

Comment by NickD

NickD — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:09:59 -0800

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/244270104_39787dd544.jpg
It's shocking stuff...

Comment by NickD

NickD — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:43:23 -0800

Surely cigarettes "may" kill you because it's not guaranteed to kill you. You could die from being overweight first!