| We Call Em' Lights, They Call Em' Gold |

Today I want to talk about Germany’s unique cigarette culture. Yes, that’s right I am calling it a culture of cigarettes. Virtually everyone I met in Germany smokes, with the exception of a handful. Now I myself am a social smoker, which is someone who smokes when in the company of other smokers. However, I found that while I was abroad it was incredibly difficult to adhere to my usual regimen of only smoking when having drinks with friends. It seems that almost anytime is a good time to have a cigarette break in Berlin. I found myself turning down endless invites to step out for a moment to burn another cancer stick. If I spent the day at IMK and I said yes to every request, I could have seen myself smoking an entire pack of cigarettes in a day.

So it appears that there is a very high percentage of people who smoke cigarettes among 18 to 30 years of age. They appear to be slowly getting adjusted to the, what I find to be familiar, smoking ban that exists in Berlin. This ban restricts bars and pubs larger than 75 sq. meters from allowing cigarette smoking within the establishment. However, there was a loop hole, much like in Miami, that allows establishments smaller than 75 sq. meters to have indoor smoking as long as they do not allow anyone under 18 and do not serve food. In addition the ban restricts advertising and using names such as Lights, that would suggest cigarettes any were less deadly. Instead, Marlboro chose to use the name Gold. As if this made them sounds any less desirable after downing a pint of beer?




So why I am I discussing this and what does this have to do with social marketing campaigns?

Well, virtually unheard of to my friends in Berlin, the European Union as a whole recently launched a massive social marketing campaign to empower the public with the right to ban cigarettes in their establishments. This would not concern Germans directly if it weren’t for the fact that Bavaria became the first state to endorse a total no smoking band in all public buildings. Without keeping small businesses in mind the push to ban cigarettes in public places is set to commence next week and continue through 2012, the hope is to create a smoke free Europe.

Best of luck with that.

resources:
http://www.cigarettesflavours.com/anti-smoking-campaign/ec-initiates-13-5m-anti-smoking-campaign/
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5760072,00.html