Tobacco Documents Online

. Tobacco Distributor & Confectionery Guide The American Advertising Federa- tion, holding its first nationat convention in Portland, Ore., has issued a five-point August 1968 Advertising Group Deplores FTC's Cigarette Ad Ban Plan statement critical of a Federal Trade Commission report which proposes a ban on all broadcast advertising of cigarettes. The statement said Congress should reject the proposed ban because: FIVE POINTS l. "To flatly prohibit adivertising of a legal product is contrary to the whole concept of our free enterprise society. 2. "Such action Would constitute an arbitrary and capricious exercise of gov- ernment power, establishing a dangerouss precedent which could be applied to. \ other products at the will or caprice of federal! authority. 3. "Substantial legal questions are raised by the recommendation as to the constitutional protection of advertising freedom for legal products in interstate commerce. 4. "The ban would deal with~ . effect rather than cause and not solve the basic issues involVed pertaining to public con- sumption of cigarettes. For example, in Great Britain and Ita1y; where such bans were instituted, actual cigarette consumption has increased. • 5. "The FTC report fails to acknow- ledge the role-and progress of self regula- tion by the industry. Both the cigarette advertising manufacturers, and the radio and television codes of the National Assn. of Broadcasters restrict the man- ner and treatment of such advertising and preclude health claims and direct appeals to young people." NO HEALTH WARNING The statement also notes: "Further, the federation believes that the inclusion of a health~ warning statement in adver- tising would be unwarranted and inef- fective. To 'require by government fiat the inclusion of specific negative state- ments in advertising„is contrary to the fundamental concept of American a.l- vertising having the freedom to inform the consumer about products and serv- ices in whatever legitimate and truthful manner it chooses. "Such~ requirements, if allowed to intrude upon the freedom of advertising messages, could very well be enlarged to the point where the ability to ad- vertise at all would be destroyed. Such~ a warning would, in fact, only serve too penalize the advertising, rather than deter the consumer. "In the case of radio advertising, in particular, the warning statement would be highly discriminatory, since the warn- ing would negate such advertising en- tirely: OTHER FACTORS "The AAF recognizes the need for con- cern and study of the health qpestion involved in cigarette smoking. However,, it has been clearly established that 'the decision to smoke or not to smoke is a personal one based on factors generally beyond the advertising, which has its primary influence on brand choice among those who do smoke. Present smokers are not likely to be deterred by warnings and' bans, as the record has shown. "Among young people, for whom we must all share a concern, the decision to smoke is generally related to thee peer or 'in' group, the family and other environmental factors. "To attempt to solve this problem through the advertising is to put the cart before the horse, rather than find solutions to the fundamental questions involved." , W Is IRS reports slight dip In cigarette smoking wAsfuxcrox; n.c.-Government st'atis- ties last week showed that for only the second time since the Surgeon Gen- eral's report in 1964 linked the use of tobacco to cancer and other diseases,, there has been a decline in cigarette smoking. The Internal Revenue Service re- leased figures showing that Americans smoked 543:4 billion cigarettes in the fiscal year ended last June 30, compared with 545.1 billion in fiscal 1987. \Vhile the 0.28 per cent decline was coniinued on page 21 '' The Most Use/u! Paper--lODACCO-# "' 1AVOUSr 30, isss f n ,