It begins, as all addictive tales do, with something deceptively harmless, a drag from a cigarette, a puff from a shiny vape, a whiff of watermelon mist from a hookah pipe. No consent is required. No questions are asked. Whether you’re 16 or 60, once you’re in, you’re in deep.
That chilling reality is what the World Health Organization (WHO) wants to spotlight this World No Tobacco Day, marked annually on May 31. Launched in 1987, the global awareness campaign has since evolved beyond just cigarette use to cover the full spectrum of nicotine delivery systems.
This year’s theme, “Bright Products. Dark Intentions. Unmasking the Appeal,” exposes how Big Tobacco has repackaged addiction with slick marketing and candy-coated lies.
Tobacco kills, no matter how it’s packaged.
Help us to stop the manipulation: https://t.co/vmcec1pHLv#WorldNoTobaccoDay pic.twitter.com/uNX2HNEUof
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 31, 2025
A Dangerous Makeover
The industry’s tactics have morphed, but the intent remains the same: hook users early, and keep them for life. Tobacco companies are no longer just selling cigarettes; they’re selling lifestyle and rebellion in dazzling colors and enticing flavors. Products now arrive in perfume-like packaging and flavours like bubblegum, raspberry mojito, and vanilla custard targeting youth with precision.
“It’s like selling rat poison in a perfume bottle,” says WHO bluntly. They warn that these tactics are nothing short of a deception campaign that feeds on curiosity and misinformation, especially among teenagers.
India acted preemptively in 2019 by banning e-cigarettes and vapes, recognizing the threat they posed to young minds. But the war is far from over.
India’s Tobacco Battle
Globally, tobacco kills over 8 million people every year, more than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Secondhand smoke alone claims 1.2 million lives annually.
India has shown leadership in tobacco control. According to WHO’s global tobacco trends report, smoking prevalence in India fell from 29 percent in 2000 to an estimated 6 percent in 2025. Beyond bans and restrictions, India has also amended its Films and TV Rules to curb tobacco glamourization on screens.
It’s #WorldNoTobaccoDay🚭
Tobacco causes over 20 types of cancer and kills up to half of its users who don’t quit.
Tobacco & nicotine industries use devious tactics to hook users into a cycle of addiction. #TobaccoExposed
Don’t let them fool you. Learn more 👉… pic.twitter.com/8wJcSe9R3B
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 31, 2025
The New Age Myths
Nearly 267 million Indians almost 29 percent of adults still use tobacco in some form: smoking, chewing, sniffing, or vaping. And while beedis and gutkha remain traditional culprits, it’s the modern, flavored tobacco devices that have created a dangerous myth: that they’re somehow safer.
But WHO is categorical: “There is no safe tobacco product.” From stylish vapes to fruit-flavored pouches, each is a delivery system for nicotine, heavy metals, and carcinogens.
As part of its 2025 campaign, WHO urges governments and stakeholders to act decisively:
- Mandate graphic health warnings on all tobacco and nicotine products
- Raise taxes to make tobacco economically unattractive
- Ban advertising, especially youth-targeted digital campaigns
- Invest in cessation support, especially in underserved regions
Today is #WorldNoTobaccoDay 🚭
Tobacco & nicotine products look sweet BUT are harmful.
That bubblegum, mango, or cotton candy flavour isn’t just for taste. It’s a trap to get young people hooked!
Don’t fall for the illusion. #TobaccoExposed 👉https://t.co/yX3C3iYW4y pic.twitter.com/EbZad0Se3w
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 30, 2025
Call to Unmask the Illusion
World No Tobacco Day 2025 is not about vilifying smokers. It’s about dismantling the machinery that profits off addiction with full knowledge of its human cost.
We are now at a tipping point in history with more knowledge than ever before about tobacco’s dangers, yet facing an industry more innovative and seductive than ever.
The challenge is clear. The next generation must not grow up thinking that a vape pen is harmless only to learn the truth through a cancer diagnosis or a ventilator tube.
