The wrinklerMay 31st is World No Tobacco Day, heralded by the World Health Organization, and celebrated by the advocacy group Action on Smoking and Health (with the very appropriate acronym ASH). Smoking is one of the most addictive (anti-)health behaviors around, so persuading people to quit the habit continues to challenge public health advocates.

Enter ASH’s engaging campaign called “The Wrinkler,” with the introductory question, “Ever notice how some people who are 25 look 45?” The video continues to explain how we can “expedite the aging process….Ladies, wish you were half your age? Don’t wait for him to look younger; make yourself look older.”

ASH“Introducing The Wrinkler” — #GetWrinkles on Twitter, the script continues. There are five steps to using The Wrinkler…

Step 1 – Open the cigarette pack

Step 2 – Pull out The Wrinkler

Step 3 – Light it

Step 4 – Puff it and exhale around your face

Step 5 – Repeat.

The Wrinker is, of course, a cigarette. Here’s the video for your watching and sharing pleasure.

nonsmokerfaceHealth Populi’s Hot Points:  Health citizens the world over are dying more often from non-communicable diseases — conditions that respond to changing personal behaviors — than from infectious diseases. Quitting smoking is one of a handful of such personal choices, along with moderating alcohol consumption, eating right, and getting physical activity. Together, making these four choices can bolster health.

If you know someone who smokes, show them this video, tell them you love them, and that you care they’re killing themselves — and people around them via second-hand smoke. Love is the real Killer App!

And for more on the effects of smoking and public health, see my post, Schizo About Smoking, celebrating 50 years of the Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking.