Jump to full article: spiked (uk), 2009-06-16
Author: Christopher Snowdon
Intro: David Goerlitz was a star of cigarette ads until he turned against Big Tobacco. Now, however, he thinks the anti-smokers have gone too far. . . .
The 'Winston man' had one particular tale to tell that quickly went global. On the set of a photo shoot, Goerlitz, then a heavy smoker, discovered that none of the tobacco executives present was a smoker. He asked one of them why that was and was told: 'We reserve that right for the poor, the young, the black and the stupid.' (See the YouTube clip below.)
On television, Goerlitz's later straight-talking criticisms of the tobacco industry helped turn public opinion against it. In court, his revelations helped seal a $246billion settlement between the industry and the US government - a deal that explicitly 'prohibits direct or indirect targeting of youth in advertising'.
When that settlement was signed in 1998, it was supposed to represent a fresh start in the campaign against smoking. Instead, says Goerlitz, it led to the anti-smoking movement becoming 'criminal and corrupt'. Out of loyalty to the anti-smoking cause, he has held his tongue for 10 years in the hope that the movement could reform itself. No more. Now, he tells me, he feels 'kind of like the guy who built the atom bomb and then regretted it later. I helped create this monster.'
. . .
Goerlitz believes smokers and non-smokers can get along just fine with a little give-and-take and common sense. 'There's none of that in the tobacco control movement, and there hasn't been for the last 10 or 12 years that I'm aware of. In every other [tobacco control] programme, smokers are offended, they're harassed, they're treated like lepers and second-class citizens and child abusers.'
Incredibly, since he has not smoked for over 20 years, Goerlitz has recently felt the prejudice against smokers first-hand. Every December for seven years, he toured schools in the eastern US state of Maryland. In the eighth year, he was not invited. The reason? The state of Maryland no longer uses 'former addicts' in their tobacco programmes. . . .
What about the right to smoke in a bar? 'Absolutely they should have the right to smoke in a bar! . . .
To this end, Goerlitz plans to set up his own tobacco control programme for kids on YouTube. He will continue to tour schools, but is cutting the cord with the mainstream tobacco control movement.
Finally, I ask a question that would have seemed absurd 20 years ago. Who is more honest, the tobacco companies or the anti-smoking movement? 'There's not much of a difference, but I would say the tobacco companies.'
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