Category Archives: cigarette advertising

Anti-tobacco campaign, Big Tobacco, cigarette advertising, cigarettes, Department of Justice, FDA, tobacco litigation, warning labels

Federal judge finds graphic cigarette warnings unconstitutional

french cigarettesNot surprising since the same judge a few weeks ago slapped an injunction on these cigarette labels.

Washington Post story. New York Times story.

Judge Richard J. Leon ruled this week that graphic warnings on cigarette packs violate the First Amendment, because, essentially, they go too far in forcing tobacco companies to advertise something against their will that goes against their own self-interests (Basically, there is a judicial precedent that as part of the First Amendment you can’t be forced to say something you don’t want to say. The government can require written labels on cigarette packs, but graphic images go too far in provoking an emotional reaction against the tobacco companies’ own product, the judge ruled.)

“The government’s interest in advocating a message cannot and does not outweigh plaintiff’s First Amendment right to not be the government’s messenger,” Judge Leon wrote.

australia plain packaging

This is a bummer, but after the injunction, I wasn’t very optimistic. The Justice Department and Obama administration can appeal the decision (They’ve already appealed the injunction, which was imposed late last year. I guess that appeal is moot now). It would first go to a Circuit Court of Appeals, but I expect it would eventually go before the U.S. Supreme Court, and with the incredibly pro-corporate judges on the Supreme Court, I’m not optimistic this ruling would get overturned.

Again, a bummer. Most of the countries in the West require these graphic images on cigarette packs, but in the U.S., it appears the tobacco companies will squirm out of it. Unfortunately, for the moment, the First Amendment seems to be on the tobacco companies’ side.

 

Anti-tobacco campaign, Australia, cigarette advertising, cigarettes, FDA, New Zealand, warning labels

Australian Senate passes plain cigarette package law

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australia plain packaging

(Thanks to Classical Gas for the scoop on this story!)

Australia is attempting to force cigarette companies in that country to have utterly, entirely plain cigarette packages, with no artwork, no logos, no graphics whatsoever, except for graphic images of lung cancer and other diseases caused by cigarette smoking.

The Australian Senate passed a bill to require the plain packages. The Australian House is expected to approve the bill, as well, requiring plain packaging by next year. Tobacco companies are expected to file lawsuits. New Zealand is considering similar legislation.

In the U.S., these graphic warnings have been put on hold. A U.S. District Court judge issued an injunction stopping the FDA from requiring graphic warnings, saying they violated tobacco companies’ First Amendment rights by forcing them to advocate for something they didn’t want to advocate.

French cigaratte pack

Someone showed me a pack of French cigarettes the other day with a pretty gross graphic warning of a rotting mouth. Their point was smokers really aren’t going to pay attention. My attitude is the vast majority of smokers probably don’t care about the warnings — I mean if they’re smoking, they’re probably already addicted to the nicotine. But, maybe, maybe, maybe, just maybe, it will put an inkling in a few smokers’ minds that, “Wow, I really need to quit,” and maybe, maybe, maybe, it will discourage some kids from beginning. Who knows? I can hear the nanny-state argument on this one.

cigarette advertising, cigarettes, New Zealand, smoking, warning labels

Oh, those kooky Kiwis and their cigarette warnings!

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cigarette cover

Oh, look at this. Those kooky Kiwis have come up with the dumbest invention for smokers.

In some countries like New Zealand, Australia and Canada, the warning labels on cigarettes have become increasingly graphic to discourage smokers (In the U.S., Big Tobacco has actually sued over graphic warning labels, saying, get this, they make smokers “depressed.” I can’t make this shit up.

In New Zealand, to counteract the graphic warning, British American Tobacco  came up with this invention to cover up the graphic warnings so smokers don’t have to look at it. It’s like some kind of Velcro band that goes around the cigarette pack literally to hide it. Oh, brother. I wonder how many people will actually buy it? What a bunch of drongos BAT are, trying to circumvent the law.

Big Tobacco, cigarette advertising, Herman Cain is a stooge

Really bizarre ad from tobacco stooge Herman Cain

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cain smoking adThanks to Misti for digging this up.

This is really bizarre. It’s an ad from Herman Cain’s campaign manager. It’s a pretty direct matter-of-fact personal testimony from the guy about why he likes Herman Cain … and then at the very end, they show him smoking a cigarette and blowing smoke right into the camera.

Bizarre. It’s like an old cigarette ad. I think it’s just a clumsy ad. They probably just told him, “act natural,” while they continued filming him, so he lit up a cigarette and smoked it.

I think…

… then again, Herman Cain does have a long, illustrious history of being a tobacco industry stooge.  While he was a lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association, he apparently took a shitload of money from Big Tobacco as he lobbied against smoking bans in restaurants. More on that in this New York Times article. Maybe it was a secret product placement for his tobacco buddies. Probably not…

… but then again, you never know.

What is funny is the reaction to the video, no one could tell whether or not it was REAL! It reminded me of these three videos, one of which pretty Haruko dug up.

You tell me which ones are real and which ones are fake:

Thank you, Haruko, I have WANTED to find this one, but you did for me

How about this ad. Is it for real?

Anti-tobacco campaign, Big Tobacco, cigarette advertising, FDA, phillip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Surgeon General, tobacco litigation

Big Tobacco sues U.S. government over warning labels as being too “depressing”

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9035686-standard
File this one under, “you have to be absolutely shitting me.”

Five Big Tobacco companies, led by (cue shock) R.J. Reynolds, the sleaziest of the sleaze Big Tobacco companies, filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration over graphic warning labels being required by the agency.

Get this, the complaint claims the labels would make their customers, i.e., smokers, “depressed, discouraged and afraid” to buy their products.

Oy.

That’s the FUCKING point! To DISCOURAGE and make people AFRAID to use the product.

cigarette-warning-labels.jpg&q=80&MaxW=320

Arrrrrggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Must …. avoid … kicking …. cat…..

These warning labels are all part of legislation signed into law in 2009 that gave the FDA regulatory authority over Big Tobacco. These same kinds of graphic warnings have been implemented in Great Britain, Canada and Australia (and they’ve been controversial in those places, as well.)

Altria, i.e. Philip Morris, as usual likes to play nice and has not joined this litigation. With 60 percent of the cigarette market cornered, Philip Morris doesn’t need to jump into these frivolous suits (and Philip Morris actually helped write that 2009 law to begin with, which is weird, because if their competitors can no longer advertise, they can cling on to that 60 percent market share much more easily.).

warning label child

These images, which will be unveiled a year from now, include sickly children, people dying of cancer and diseased gums and lungs. These kinds of images have been on cigarette packs in Commonwealth countries for a few months now.

Anti-tobacco campaign, cigarette advertising

Great Britain banning tobacco displays in stores

Great Britain is following the lead of Canada and is expected to ban the display of tobacco products (I’ve heard these called Powerwalls in Canada).

There’s talk that the FDA may do something similar later this year or early next year in the U.S., but I suspect whatever they do when it comes to powerwalls, it will probably be pretty subtle.

What made this story especially funny is one of the more stupid comments I’ve ever seen on Topix (a news aggregation site which is where you can find a lot of these stories easily). The comment reads:

Someone needs to remind these anti-American, Nazi oriented political scum of the Constitution. Smoking is not the issue it is the freedom that is being eroded. It should be a capital offense to violate the Constitution.

I guess he didn’t actually bother reading the story … because he would have noticed that the story took place in the UNITED KINGDOM. Smiley

Also, a capital offense to violate the Constitution? So, does that mean he thinks Bush, Cheney, Nixon, Reagan, Kissinger, Oliver North, half the Watergate conspirators and Jan Brewer should have all been put to death?

Because they have all violated the Constitution.

Anti-tobacco campaign, cigarette advertising, Uncategorized

Fuck you, GQ

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And when I say, “Fuck you, GQ,” I do mean, go fuck yourselves…

GQ this month is featuring the “most cool athletes of all time” on its covers. Who was on the cover of GQ in OUR town. Arnold Palmer … smoking a cigarette … with a big headline “The Coolest Athletes Ever.” Remember, this is a magazine that anyone of any age can buy, too.

I’m sure there were lots and lots and LOTS of perfectly good photos available of Arnold Palmer NOT smoking.

Go fuck yourself, GQ. Jesus fucking Christ, in this day and fucking age, still equating smoking with “cool.”