Fellow blogger Erica Jordan recently brought an article to my attention about a new strategy being adopted by the anti-smoking organization “Legacy”. Rather than focus on the health consequences of smoking as they’ve been doing, they are now attacking cigarettes as litter. My immediate thought was: “That’s not new!”
That sign is one of almost 80 in a long-running smoking manners campaign run by Japan Tobacco that I’ve featured on this site before with this funny one and this philosophical one. A large number of their posters address the “cigarette butts as litter” issue and they generally come in little series of three or four that focus on one very specific example, like cigarette butts in flower beds or on the beach or stuck in the snow. Given our long winter, I felt it appropriate to go with the snow series.
Erica also requested I post two photos instead of the usual one, but having an aversion to doing what people ask of me, I obviously couldn’t comply. I also couldn’t post just one and disappoint one of my very few readers, so I had to post three:
We were all thinking it. Japan just had the guts to put in poster PSA form.
Natalia | Always Trekking recently contributed to world literature by posting..Icy Weekend Skiing in Jay Peak – Vermont, US
They’ve been worried about the littering aspect for a while now. Even back when I first got there, many people carried portable ashtrays and the cops would actually stop someone for tossing a cigarette butt and lecture them on getting such an ashtray. A number of the smoking manners posters actually deal with portable ashtrays too.
Daniel McBane recently contributed to world literature by posting..6 Steps to Becoming a True Backpacker
this MADE my day.
I hope spring finds its way there soon!
(Though I’m kind of glad it’s still winter because these are hilarious)
Erica recently contributed to world literature by posting..The Cats of Ephasus
Thanks, but compared to what’s apparently going on in the middle part of the US, the cold, gray weather I’m enjoying is downright tropical.
Daniel McBane recently contributed to world literature by posting..Don’t Eat Cow Pies Despite the Name
Very interesting. It bugs the heck out of me that smokers often treat the Earth like an ashtray. Great post.
I couldn’t agree more and we’re not alone–there are actually a few of these posters that deal with that specific issue: treating the world like an ashtray.
Daniel McBane recently contributed to world literature by posting..Redefining Greek Salad on Goa’s Palolem Beach
Very interesting and quite innovative. But the questions that begs to be answered is that, do they really work? You should have posted one by one and kept us guessing.
Shalu Sharma recently contributed to world literature by posting..My Indian breakfast, lunch and dinner
They seem to work. While there are plenty of annoying smokers in Japan, I did get the feeling that smokers are generally more considerate of non-smokers than they are in most other countries.