disgusting images of severe health consequences of tobacco are commonly used in anti-tobacco advertising were found to be effective in health campaigns
Many existing anti-smokeless tobacco messages include image of cancer. The message concepts in this study were designed to portray the health risks of smokeless tobacco without a frighten- ing graphic image. Nonetheless, the health effect ads tended to evoke fear from some participants, and generated extensive discussions among those who had not used smokeless tobacco, because many of non-users did not realize that smokeless tobacco is harmful. However, even these less gra- phic messages tended to arouse distrust in the coun- ter-marketing message, misinterpretation of the ad or minimization of the message ideas among past smokeless tobacco users.