Let other countries use graphic images of low-weight babies, cancerous lungs or people exhaling smoke through a tracheotomy opening to show the perils of smokers. The Mexican government has decided to go a slightly different way.

Mexico’s health authorities decided to bring back the image of a dead rat covering the top half of cigarette packages. The reason? It is the one image that — according to a survey among Mexican smokers — will be more likely to help them quit.

Yeah, right.

Mexico’s health authorities are so naive they fail to see smokers were just screwing with their heads.