EnglishRespecting the rules II
Switzerland: "Smoke Better" on the Pack, Yesmoke Taken off the Market.
It is forbidden to print on cigarette packets "slogans that might give the impression that a certain tobacco product could be less harmful than others". So, the Yesmokes that displayed the catchphrase "Smoke Better", were outlawed. It was a directive of the Canton Laboratory of Bellinzona that ordered the withdrawal from the market of all the packets, which the company itself immediately destroyed.
We have come a long way in the past few decades on the road of Consumer Protection. "More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette", said an R.J. Reynolds slogan of 1946 … "Philip Morris, a cigarette recognised by eminent medical authorities for its advantages to the nose and throat" - Philip Morris, 1939
Fortunately in 1950, the US Federal Trade Commission declared slogans to be deceptive. For example, those that said that smoking … "renews and restores bodily energy". According to the FTC these were "clearly false, there being in tobacco smoke no constituent which could possible create energy".
But although cigarettes have always been food products according to the law, the ingredients of the brands are even today secret both for consumers and for the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that in 2005 is still trying, in vain, to determine with certainty if one brand of cigarettes is more harmful than others. The same is true for other organizations all around the world.
In the meantime, the slogans, from conventional weapons have been transformed into technological and invisible weapons, that take advantage of those who should be safeguarding the public health, and that can make addicts of millions of people at a time…
Is it a slogan or not?
"Many prominent athletes smoke Luckies all day long with no harmful effects to wind or physical condition" - 1929. "Not one case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels!" - 1949. L&M: Just what the doctor ordered. Those were other times.
But, in fact, today, everything is the same as it used to be as far as "cigarettes recognized by eminent medical authorities" is concerned. Only the weapons have changed; they have become more intelligent.
In 1960 Philip Morris started using the Cowboy image in its commercials, because the image "…would turn the rookie smokers on to Marlboro … the right image to capture the youth market's fancy…a perfect symbol of independence and individualistic rebellion".
It was a real atom bomb. Today Marlboro's retail market share is 22 billion dollars, more than the ten next top-selling "Premium brands" put together.
In 1968 Philip Morris came out with Virginia Slims, a cigarette targeted exclusively for women, running the slogan: "You Have Come Along Way, Baby". "Within six years of the Slims launch, the percentage of teenage women who smoked had nearly doubled".
“Consumer protection” only halfway
While people pay close attention to what is written on the pack, like the writing "Medium", "Light" etc. (soon to be prohibited), nothing can be done to better safeguard the consumer from what is inside the pack, all over the world.
Although there is the will to make the disclosure of the ingredients of a brand obligatory, at least to the authorities of the country where the product is sold, this seems to be impossible, everywhere in the world.
Moreover it appears that few people have noticed that consumer protection in this case, has been set aside, as if it were not important.
Smoke better or smoke worse? What can we do if not even the authorities can know the real differences between one brand and another?
Clive Bates, Director of ASH
The "Chemical history" of Marlboro sheds interesting light on the subject: In the early sixties Philip Morris was the smallest of America's six leading cigarette makers; RJR's brand, Winston, had annual sales nearly three times the size of Marlboro's.
"Philip Morris began using an ammoniated sheet material in 1965 and increased the use of the sheet periodically from 1965 to 1974. This time period corresponds to the dramatic sales increase Philip Morris made from 1965 to 1974. " RJR 1992, Minn. Trial: exhibit 13141
"Without telling anyone, tobacco companies have been free-basing nicotine and engineering subtle changes in the brain chemistry of the smoker. The idea of taking an addictive product and making it more addictive is extremely disturbing. It is basically a further invasion of the freedom not to smoke, if you don't want to." Clive Bates, Director of ASH - Action on Smoking and Health.
A disaster for public health
The impact of the tobacco industry's contributions is evident in the debate on the legislation that gives to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products.
1996: According to the American press, about 85% of US adults surveyed favored the Food and Drug Administration's policy on tobacco, and roughly the same percentage said Congress should support the FDA ruling.
What the remaining 15% had to say is not clear, as certainly they are not lovers of chemical additives, especially when these are kept secret.
In the face of this overwhelming public approval, tobacco allies in the 104th Congress introduced at least six bills to block the FDA from regulating tobacco. All of the leading sponsors accepted tobacco contributions, as did 82% of their colleagues in Congress.
2005: Nine years later, the revolution has not moved ahead even one step. The House-Senate conference committee defeated the FDA legislation, in fact, the majority of the Senate voted in favor, though the House majority did not.
With their deep pockets, the tobacco giants managed to block those "dangerous revolutionaries" of the FDA, and they have bought themselves decades of voluntary self-regulation - a disaster for public health.
Useful links
Ammonia technology and the Marlboro story
STAMP OUT THE PARASITE - POLITICIANS
www.philipmorrisusa.com Altria Group and Philip Morris USA Express Full Support for Senate and House Legislation Providing FDA Regulatory Authority of Tobacco Products - New York, March 17, 2005
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