Volume 1
The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee
- Date:
- 2000
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
42/92 page 40
![“The difficulty with Bungee Jumper from the client’s point of view was that if the public followed through the logic of the execution, they would assume that a bungee jumper landing in concrete would most likely result in fatality. This as you can imagine is something of a taboo area with a tobacco manufacturer, and whilst they could therefore appreciate the fact that it could be considered a Hamlet Moment, its connotations were too grave if anyone had made the mental leap.”!°? Again, efforts were made to ensure that advertisements for Sovereign did not appear opposite the Health section of the Daily Mirror. Mr MacLennan of M&C Saatchi defended this as “entirely ethical” contending - in our view entirely illogically - “the only words on many advertisements say that smoking kills ... to put an image in there which encourages people to think of other aspects of health would be a strange way to advertise”.'™ 87. Equally, on some occasions it appeared to suit the agencies to use health concerns to their, and their clients’, advantage. Market research on Silk Cut packaging illustrated this with comments such as “white signals the low tar category” ... “low tar (‘healthy’) quality”. One advertising debrief remarked that “the emotional territory of ‘very low’ [tar] is ownable as a higher-level benefit which cannot be usurped by rivals”.'°? Another asked: © ) “Who are we talking to? The core low tar (and Silk Cut) smoker is female ... upmarket, aged 25 plus, a smart health conscious professional who feels guilty about smoking but either doesn’t want to give it up or can’t. Although racked with guilt they feel reassured that in smoking low tar they are making a smart choice and will jump at any chance to make themselves feel better about their habit.” | The triumphant conclusion followed: “low tar cigarettes can be associated with higher self- esteem’, !*° 88. The evidence we have reviewed from the advertising agencies leads us to conclude that, once more, voluntary agreements have served the industry well and the public badly. Regulations have been seen as hurdles to be overcome or side-stepped; legislation banning advertising as a challenge, a policy to be systematically undermined by whatever means possible. We recommend that any future regulation of marketing should be statutory, and overseen by an independent and powerful regulatory body which has the consumer’s interest at heart, such as the Tobacco Regulatory Authority which we propose below at paragraph 189. 89. Most of the tobacco companies have sought to challenge the Government’s commitment to introduce an advertising ban in advance of the date for implementation set by the EU directive. The argument they have repeatedly advanced is that tobacco advertising does not increase consumption, it merely persuades smokers to switch brands. However, looking through the documents that the agencies themselves produced, this view is completely discredited. 90. The CTCR analysis pointed to material which it believed suggested that “specific campaigns are deliberately designed to support the idea of smoking, rather than individual brands”.'*’ They cited a document produced for Japan Tobacco which puts forward a campaign to promote the idea that “smoking can be a delight for everyone if it is done right”.'** Another report submitted by CDP on the cigar market emphasised “the need for the reinvigoration of the cigar market”.'*? Lamenting the demise of “the tobacco culture” the strategy document - in flagrant violation of the CAP - urged the need to “step up our [Hamlet’s] presence amongst younger and potential cigar smokers” or else risk losing “a whole generation of smokers, hastening the decline of the market and our brand”.'©° 91. Furthermore, in both the cigar and cigarette markets the recruitment of “new entrants” is a key strategy. For example, Lambert & Butler and Marlboro are envied their success in this respect, but Silk Cut need to improve their performance. This was the conclusion reached in a Rothmans Consumer Research Department document from 1998:](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32221083_0001_0042.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
