A graphic anti-smoking advertisement released by Public Health England Monday pictures a man smoking a cigarette rolled-up with human flesh.
The campaign is designed to warn smokers that even rolled-up cigarettes cause a "slow and steady decline to the body," rotting you from the inside out.
The billboard advertisement pictures a half-open rolled-up cigarette with decayed human tissue and blood inside.
The video advertisement pictures a bloody-handed man rolling up a cigarette he is planning to smoke that is filled with the decayed tissue and blood. When he smokes the cigarette, blood drips out of the end.
"Whilst many smokers know the damage cigarettes do to their hearts and lungs, they are much less likely to be aware of how harmful smoking is to the body - essentially 'rotting' it from the inside out, and roll-ups are no exception," said Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer.
The campaign highlights all of the toxins in cigarettes that cause harm on smoker's bodies - including those that damage the bones and muscles.
Smoking groups are responding to the grotesque video by saying the campaign is trying too hard to scare smokers.
"There can't be a sane adult in the United Kingdom who isn't well aware of the health risks of smoking," Simon Clark, director of the smoking group Forest, said to RT. "What's really poisonous is the way public health campaigners are constantly trying to scare and harass people with exaggerated claims and dubious statistics. This is real life not a Hammer Horror film. If Public Health England wants to be effective they should engage with consumers, not try to scare them with rotten campaigns such as this."
There are about one billion adult cigarette smokers worldwide, 800 million men and 200 million women, according to Cancer Research UK statistics. This doesn't include children smokers, smokeless tobacco or second hand smoke.
Check out the graphic advertisement for yourself here.
