The city is forcing stores that sell cigarettes to display graphic anti-smoking posters—despite complaints by shopkeepers and customers. So the owner of Montague Street Bagels in Brooklyn Heights is fighting back against the ads, which depict a damaged brain and blackened lungs, by hanging his own handwritten disclaimer reading: "We are very sorry, but by the order of [New York City Department of Health], we are required to post this sign, or face a $2,000 fine!"
Bagel shop owner Joseph Aceto said he put up the note after customers complained about the graphic posters, which are the latest in a series of controversial Department of Health campaigns against obesity and smoking. "There's no need for this, not in a food store," Aceto told NY1. "Do the commercials, do what you want, but you can't do this."
The station reports that bagel shop customers were split over the posters. The city insists the posters are necessary because smokers only see the warnings on packs of cigarettes after they've already purchased them, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. However, marketing expert Martin Lindstrom says his research shows that some graphic anti-smoking ads have the opposite of their intended effect: "[W]hen people see those health warnings, they are turned on and they want to smoke even more."
