"So You Want to Give Up Smoking" is shown occasionally on TCM between feature films. This short subject follows the efforts of Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) as he tries unsuccessfully to quit smoking. The film treats nicotine addiction as a pesky inconvenience, calling smoking a "minor vice" and referring to "soothing" cigarettes. When the viewer thinks about the documented health effects of cigarettes, this film seems pretty creepy indeed.
McDoakes ultimately fails, switching to cigars, a change that the film treats as some sort of joke. Given the addictive nature of cigarettes and the diseases they cause, "So You Want to Give Up Smoking" seems like it was made during the Dark Ages. Fascinating but very depressing.