I wouldn't think it effective, because it keeps reminding the smoker that he wants a cigarette.
I quit a couple of times, once for two years, but the problem was that I had quit, and was fighting to stay quit.
An ex-smoker is always looking for an excuse to restart, it can be a dating breakup, or a lost job, or his wife and children killed in an auto accident.
I haven't smoked in twenty years, because the last time I quit, I didn't quit, I simply became a non-smoker.
It made a huge difference, I wasn't resisting something, because it no longer had any significance to me, since I wasn't a smoker it didn't bother me when other people smoked, when people offered me a cigarette, I didn't say "no thanks I quit", instead it was simply "no thanks I don't smoke".
My advice is don't play mental games, the next time the impulse comes over you to become a non smoker, then run with it, and make it real, and keep it to yourself.