Is it true that a person in a photo crashed in a car that he bought on the money saved on smoking?

For several years, users of social networks have been distributing pictures of a man for whom the abandonment of bad habit allegedly became fatal. We checked how true this information is.

In the photographs you can see a man on the table in front of which are numerous coins and banknotes. The signatures for the pictures claim that this man decided to quit smoking and for six years, he delayed money daily, equal to the cost of a pack of cigarettes. The saved funds allowed him to buy a car where he crashed in an accident a few days later. “Shah and mat, fighters for a healthy lifestyle,” the authors of such publications conclude.

This story has been distributed by users over the past few years Facebook, Telegram, X, "Zen"And other social networks and a blog-platform, but she gained the most popularity on VKontakte: at the time of writing this analysis, publications with 764 000, 185 000 And 125 000 Views. Also, pictures with similar signatures can be found in the form of memes on entertainment portals ("Aidaprikol","Gee gee jokes").

In one of the viral photographs behind a man, you can notice a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of Turkey. His image is visible at some of those who fell into the frame banknotes. From this we can conclude that, most likely, the pictures were taken in Turkey.

And indeed, if you use the Image Reveal Search Service from Google, you can find straightaway some publications With these personnel in the Turkish -speaking press. They are mainly dated in the spring of 2017.

According to the articles, the man is the name of Mehmet, at the time of writing, he was 42 years old and he worked as a seller of air conditioners in the Turkish city of Denizley. The man began to smoke at the age of 12, and in 2009 he began to bother his chest pain and numbness. Having studied the results of medical research, the doctor advised the current to refuse tobacco. Then the Turks decided to build a large piggy bank, into which he threw money every evening in the amount of the cost of two packs of cigarettes - his daily norm. So he wanted to check what financial damage to him a bad habit.

Judging by the video, The beginning Popular (more than 3 million views) on YouTube back in 2016, the current did not wait many years before the opening of the piggy bank - there were several of them at once, and at the time of shooting the video was already filled with the fourth. The previous three, according to the current, helped him purchase two cars and one racing motorcycle. This recognition looks realistic. According to data WHO, the price of the most popular cigarettes in Turkey in 2009-2016 was about $ 3-3.5 per pack, that is, annually, by the current method, it was possible to save about $ 2200–2500 - a sufficient amount to buy an inexpensive car every few years. In 2017, a man Reported About 70,000 Turkish lires accumulated in eight years - about $ 20,000 at the rate at that time that coincides with our assessment.

Already here, signatures to viral photographs are not true. Their authors claim that the current died in a car accident a few days after the purchase of a car (apparently the first, no later than 2016). However, the Turks spoke with direct text about the purchase of three vehicles, and in video 2020, placed on the same YouTube channel as the first, the man, according to him, opened the sixth piggy bank. In the same year, a report of the TV channel was released DemirörenIn which the current said that he now devotes his free time to the manufacture of piggy banks - he gives them to others and thereby stimulates fellow citizens to lead a healthy lifestyle.

In 2024, the current continued to conduct its profiles on social networks. So, the latter at the time of writing this analysis of the post in its Facebook The man placed on April 7.

Apparently, the statement about the death of current shortly after the purchase of the first car became viral after the appearance of a post on the platform in 2019 9GAG (In the same year it is the first time It spread In Russian -speaking social networks). That is, both now and now, such publications, albeit based on real history, had a rather indirect attitude to reality.

Photo on the cover: social networks

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