Gordon_4 said:
Because if I caught some smart arse trying to be a rebel and smoking around my children in any kind of confined space, I'd be taking those smokes off them and shoving them up their arse.
As much as this moronic threat which completely misses the point of anything I've said makes me want to ignore you, I'll reply.
In so much as I am positive that these adverts are full of innuendo and exaggeration, could you maybe back that statement up.
There are dangerous and non dangerous levels of pretty much any poison. I'm highly skeptical of the claim that the smallest possible dosage of cigarette smoke is going to cause ill effects. And I'm certain that a much higher dosage of cigarette smoke, car exhausts, woodsmoke, and all manner of other things tends to be present in the air. That's not to say you should smoke around children. The amount of smoke inhaled is much higher than that if you're smoking around them, or in the house where they live. Cigarettes are not a precise delivery system, and besides that, you shouldn't encourage your children to smoke. But if no amount of cigarette smoke is safe, then we should get some respirators on our kids quicksmart.
Lying about the effects of the smoke, and the danger, is silly. Their little picture of a kid in an oxygen mask doesn't convince anyone. And once people realise that the danger on the packet is exagerated, when a kid breathes some smoke and doesn't end up with bronchitis, the message is much worse off. It's the same principal as the drug PSAs. Once someone you know starts using marijuana or the like, and doesn't end up beating up your grandmother for her jewelry, or blowing strangers for crack, the reliability of the information is questionable. The biggest risk is for parents and carers of children, and prolonged exposure to smoke, and that's really bad. But when Mum's out in the garage having a smoke, and her kid comes in to ask her when dinner is, and he doesn't fall ill, have a coughing fit, or anything of the sort, their message is damaged.
And really, their message is fucking simple, and could be got across a lot more easily. "What are you, a fucking idiot? Don't smoke around your fucking kids. *smack*" Everyone knows cigarette smoke is bad, and telling them to keep it away from kids, in a reasonable way that can't be questioned is much simpler than a couple of political aids mistaking their wikipedia searching for any medical knowledge.