Warning! The following packet contains shocking images: The impact of mortality salience on the effectiveness of graphic cigarette warning labels

This research looks at a recent initiative to encourage smokers to quit smoking and to discourage nonsmokers from starting to smoke. Evidence has shown that text‐based warning labels are ineffective in drawing attention to the dangers of tobacco consumption; therefore, some governments are looking to draw current smokers and potential smokers away from cigarettes by displaying graphic images of various smoking ailments. This research draws on Terror Management Theory as a means of understanding the effects of graphic visual images in cigarette packaging and offers implications for public health researchers, social marketers, and antismoking campaigners to help smokers to quit and reduce the likelihood of potential smokers becoming smokers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.