[mtrovo]

I remember one of the big chocks for me when I arrived in Germany from Brazil was to see how common is to see people smoking, not only in the street, but inside bars, clubs.

My state in Brazil banned cigarettes inside buildings when I was very young so going out and coming back smelling like a chimney was like going back in time.

[Kurtz79]

Not sure how it is now, but when visiting Germany a few years ago it was also weird to see tobacco normally advertised on billboards, while it is illegal in most EU countries.

[KozmoNau7]

Germany has toned it down a lot, but they still have cigarette vending machine at most train stations and randomly scattered around towns, at least in southern Germany.

[manomanowicz]

Going there recently, I was shocked by the mechanical cigarette dispensers by every checkout lane in the supermarket and the large bags of tobacco openly displayed on shelves for sale on the other side of checkout lane.

Contrast that with the UK where tobacco is hidden behind shutters and only available from a separate kiosk area.

I wonder if having it openly displayed at checkouts removes the mystery (and hence its appeal) or just serves to make it an impulse purchase?