Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, wants the Florida Department
of Health
to quit airing its "Truth" ads accusing Philip Morris
of peddling cigarettes to children. The company claims that the
ads make it appear as if Philip Morris doesn't put health warnings
on the cigarette packs it sells abroad, or that it puts up billboards
near schools or sends direct mail to children in China.
Philip Morris may be right in one sense: The ads are misleading,
but only for being understated. Philip Morris and its brethren-in-smoke
such as R.J. Reynolds and UST (the leading smokeless tobacco manufacturer)
aggressively and successfully market tobacco to children abroad.
Philip Morris is attacking details to hide a larger truth.
Teen-age "Marlboro girls" distribute free packs on streets
all over the globe. In Hong Kong, empty packs of American cigarettes
can be exchanged for free movie tickets. In Nigeria, teen-agers
win concert tickets sponsored by Philip Morris, then find Philip
Morris brands distributed with other freebies there. British American
Tobacco mixes sugar and honey in the cigarettes it sells in the
South Pacific (BAT denies that the additives are directed at children).
Joe Camel has been put out to pasture in the United States, but
Camel sponsors a clothing line abroad, where wearers are not always
adults.
A World Health Organization study released last year found that
between 11 percent and 25 percent of schoolchildren, ages 13 to
15, in 68 countries were offered free cigarettes by marketers. Tobacco
sales have been skyrocketing. Philip Morris, by far the largest
of the tobacco giants, had $73 billion in revenue in 2001, a 15
percent increase over the previous year, and $8.56 billion in profits.
Not bad for a recession year. Since 1990, sales have risen less
than 5 percent in the United States. Abroad, Philip Morris has increased
sales 80 percent.
Of course Philip Morris wants to kill "Truth" ads. Truth
is water on tobacco's fuse to a billion lungs. But the only thing
the Florida Department of Health need worry about is toughening
up its message. No need for "suggestive" ads. The plain
truth is sickening enough.