With a fag in your mouth you are sexier than your non-smoking mom and dad... but you'll get emphysema just like your chain-smoking granny did.
Health activists are becoming increasingly concerned that influencers in real life, social media and the entertainment business are pushing to make puffing sexy again. Picture: iStock
As late as the 1970s, the global ad industry manufactured the image that smoking cigarettes meant sexiness and success, for both men and women.
That glorious picture began to go up in smoke in later years as the world realised that consuming tobacco brought cancer and cardiovascular problems.
Yet, the tobacco industry has not abandoned its sinking ship of profits since then – on the contrary, it has doubled down on fighting against attempts to put health warning labels on its product packaging and is, behind the scenes, backing the new-fangled vaping craze as one way of encouraging younger users of all tobacco products.
Although official American statistics don’t show an overall increase in smoking, health activists are becoming increasingly concerned that influencers in real life, social media and the entertainment business are pushing to make puffing sexy again.
They’re helped in this by the fact that the Trump administration has made significant cuts to smoking prevention and cessation support programmes.
No doubt, there is an element of rebellion stoking the fires because, as the song notes, “every generation blames the one before”.
With a fag in your mouth you are sexier than your non-smoking mom and dad… but you’ll get emphysema just like your chain-smoking granny did.
