Tobacco.org

• ANDERSON: Tobacco's reappearance in advertising, films and TV shows may seduce a new generation into its clutches – or maybe not  

Elle Macpherson's ex and Uma Thurman's on-off fiancé appears in the latest Harper's Bazaar in a photograph that simply reeks of animal magnetism, all because of the addition of a single prop: a lit cigarette. . . .

The tragic fact, however, is that cigarette manufacturers have proven themselves adept at capturing the hearts and soon-to-be-blackened lungs of millions of men and women through the power of a simple image. In the 1920s, when tobacco barons were concerned that only men were picking up the habit, thus depriving them of half the market, they organised photographs of suffragettes smoking what were described as "torches of freedom". Smoking was immediately wrapped up with the image of rebellion. It was an idea furthered by James Dean in his portrayal of definitive teen angst in Rebel Without A Cause, whose poster saw the star cradling a lit cigarette, making them an obligatory accessory for disaffected youth everywhere.

Of course, it is hard to rebel when a behaviour has been adopted by the masses. The irony is that our aggressively no-smoking culture could be the petri dish for a new generation of rebels. Certainly Ash Scotland, the anti-smoking charity, is concerned about the new vogue for images of celebrity smokers and the negative effect they could have on the younger generation. . . .

Although cigarettes still exude an edgy glamour, especially when pressed between the pursed lips of a skinny model, we only have to look at one of their loyal disciples, Kate Moss, to see how she has aged beyond her non-smoking peers.

The damage smoking does is seen every day by Dr Darren McKeown, one of Scotland's leading aesthetic medical practitioners, with clinics in Glasgow and Harley Street. . . .

Anti-smoking lobbyists would like to see all films which feature smoking slapped with an 18 certificate, but even if they are successful the beguiling glamour that confronts the reader with the flick of a magazine page may still remain.

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