title: A qualitative content analysis of cigarette health warning labels in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
abstract: The legislation of health warning labels on cigarette packaging is a major focus for tobacco control internationally and is a key component of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This population-level intervention is broadly supported as a vital measure for warning people about the health consequences of smoking. However, some components of this approach warrant close critical inspection. Through a qualitative content analysis of the imagery used on health warning labels from 4 countries, we consider how this imagery depicts people that smoke. By critically analyzing this aspect of the visual culture of tobacco control, we argue that this imagery has the potential for unintended consequences, and obscures the social and embodied contexts in which smoking is experienced.
authors.affiliation: Rebecca J. Haines-Saah is with the School of Nursing and Kirsten Bell is with the Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Simone Dennis is with the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Haines-Saah
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dennis
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D002170:Canada; D006801:Humans; D011356:Product Labeling / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States