http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/advertising.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1055774.html http://tobacco.org/news/265335.html Bob Gee will have his day in court. The Kentville tobacconist, who has been defying provincial law on displaying cigarettes, was charged Tuesday with improper display and storage of tobacco products. Mr. Gee, owner of Mader's Tobacco Store, is the first to be charged under the province's new laws prohibiting the display of cigarettes. He was ordered last February to comply with the regulations governing tobacco vendors or be charged under the Tobacco Access Act. At the time, he was given 30 days to comply. "I was sort of expecting it, but I was hoping they would change the regulations so I could do my job," Mr. Gee, 63, said in an interview. . . . While he removed his store window displays, as required under the law, he refused to abide by the new regulations passed last December requiring him to remove all in-store displays. He was also ordered at that time to stop selling other items in his tobacco shop, including newspapers, gum, chocolate, soft drinks and other products. Under the act, tobacconists are permitted to sell tobacco and tobacco-related products only. He has not complied with that order either Halifax Chronicle Herald gdelaney@herald.ca (GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau) Canada Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=f798b8f9-0213-47c4-81af-dfa3e158f357 http://tobacco.org/news/265333.html Quebec's anti-tobacco troopers have quietly been instructed to wink at their own law when the next big deadline in the provincial war on smoking dawns May 31. A provincial health official conceded Thursday tobacco stores won't face immediate fines if they haven't squirrelled their supplies of smokes out of the sight of every single customer by the original target date. Corner-store owners have quietly been granted an unspecified amount of extra breathing time before they'll start to get dinged with fines that could range from $300 to $2,000 for a first offence. Montreal Gazette mailto:ariga@thegazette.canwest.com Canada Thu, 15 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/article/327108 http://tobacco.org/news/265308.html Provisions that have been in place since the Smoke-Free Ontario Act was first enacted two years ago -- including the banning of countertop displays and requirements that vendors ask for ID from prospective buyers younger than 25 -- have gone a significant way to reducing the number of young smokers. The complete ban of tobacco displays is a logical next step in the process. And greater scrutiny of convenience and grocery stores, gas bars and other outlets that sell cigarettes, to ensure that are keeping them out of the hands of those under 19, would be a healthy way to complete the process. Guelph Mercury website@guelphmercury.com Canada Tue, 13 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/features/people/e3i69de61b6be7b8a11465435a3d54afb82 http://tobacco.org/news/265267.html Eugene Levy will appear in a new in-theater public service announcement to be released Tuesday that offers help to people who want to quit smoking. Screenvision and National CineMedia are running the 30-second spot from the American Cancer Society, Entertainment Industry Foundation and Will Rogers Institute. Hollywood Reporter Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/business/media/12adNL3.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=smoking&st=nyt&oref=slogin http://tobacco.org/news/265222.html The American Association of Advertising Agencies, New York, presented its 2008 O'Toole Awards for Creative Excellence at its recent leadership conference. . . . The award for public service advertising was shared by Crispin Porter and Arnold Worldwide, part of the Arnold Worldwide Partners unit of Havas, for the "Truth" anti-smoking campaign on behalf of the American Legacy Foundation. New York Times Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/business/13mentholside.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin http://tobacco.org/news/265200.html No one really knows how the African-American preference for menthol cigarettes developed in the first place. Some scientists speculate that cultural and taste preferences provide a partial explanation. The Rev. Jesse Brown of Philadelphia, an opponent of smoking, calls it a “chicken and egg” conundrum. But tobacco industry marketing has played a role. The migration of African-Americans to urban manufacturing centers after World War II, coupled with the emergence of black-oriented newspapers and magazines, created various opportunities for niche marketing. In the case of cigarettes, with research showing a slight black preference for Kools, a menthol brand, the industry saw an opening to appeal to black smokers. Or at least that is the explanation central to a paper on the history of menthol marketing by Phillip S. Gardiner, the research administrator of a tobacco disease program at the University of California, Oakland. . . . Dr. Gardiner’s paper, published in 2004 in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, also notes that by the 1980s, Brown & Williamson, the maker of Kool, had started the Kool Jazz Festival to appeal to the same market. More recently, hip-hop artists have helped promote Kool New York Times Tue, 13 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.sacbee.com/roseville/story/918239.html http://tobacco.org/news/265156.html Two talented 14-year-olds have created art destined for high places. Jerreht Harris of Roseville and Janal Jansma of North Highlands crafted anti-smoking ads that will be featured on billboards overlooking busy roads and streets throughout greater Sacramento. Their separate designs were the top winners in the 15th annual anti-tobacco billboard design contest sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, it was announced last week. More than 8,300 students from Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties entered this year's contest, the goal of which is to persuade teens not to light up. Sacramento Bee esanchez@sacbee.com (Edgar Sanchez) Thu, 08 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/strongdrugsstrong-an-exhibition-that-could-be-addictive/2008/05/11/1210444241688.html?page=fullpage http://tobacco.org/news/265101.html TOBACCO companies were always going to be sensitive to critical publicity. Even so museum curator Inara Waldon was surprised to find her exhibition threatened with legal action for merely reporting a historical event. That event was the activities of the anti-tobacco and alcohol advertising activists calling themselves BUGA UP. The name stood for Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions and the group was active, mainly in Melbourne and Sydney from the 1970s to the early 1990s. They were a thorn in the side of the tobacco and liquor industries and those who advertised their products, when they defaced or as they would claim "refaced" advertising. Waldon says that some of the BUGA UP leading lights have gone on to greater things. Arthur Chesterfield Evans, a surgeon who became a Democrats member of NSW parliament from 1998 until last year, was convicted of defacing a Rothmans billboard but released on appeal. Another Sydney BUGA UP alumni is Simon Chapman, now professor of public health at Sydney University and still a leading critic of tobacco companies. Waldon is the research force behind an exhibition at the Melbourne Museum entitled, Drugs: A Social History. She makes the point that while high-profile illegal drugs such as heroin and ecstasy are top of our hierarchy of social bogies, it is the legal ones such as tobacco and alcohol that kill more Australians and do more social damage. The Age Australia Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/05/12/2003411750 http://tobacco.org/news/265091.html State-owned Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTL) came under fire yesterday from the anti-tobacco John Tung Foundation over last week’s relaunch of “La Rose 520” menthol cigarettes, which the group said was obviously aimed at expanding the smoking population among women and the young. “In the 21st century, when other advanced countries are devoting increased efforts to tobacco control among women and the youth, it is inconceivable that a government-owned corporation would conspire to harm the health of this group in our nation,” said Lin Ching-li (林清麗), director of the non-governmental organization’s tobacco control division. The cigarettes sport heart-shaped filters, pink packaging and are rose-flavored, Lin said, adding that the number “520” corresponds to president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration date. “The number is also commonly used by younger generations as meaning ‘I love you’ because the number sounds like the phrase in Mandarin,” he said. Taipei Times Taiwan Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/tobacco_display_ban_could_cost_retailers_252_million_10-05-08/ http://tobacco.org/news/265038.html The ACS (Association of Convenience Stores) has submitted to the Department of Health detailed estimates of the potential costs to a convenience store retailer of implementing a tobacco display ban. It is estimated that the new equipment required to safely remove tobacco from customers view could cost the convenience industry as much as �252 million. The minimum a single store could expect to pay is �1,850 but this could rise to as much as �4,985 depending on the detailed requirements in any regulation. ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: "What we have found is that changing tobacco displays will bring significant and damaging costs to convenience stores. As the picture becomes clearer about what the likely harm to business will be, we have still not seen the convincing evidence that a ban would have the desired effect on underage smoking. If the costs are high and the benefits not clear then the Government should not press ahead. Retail Bulletin UK Sat, 10 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoth-urf050208.php http://tobacco.org/news/265026.html As the westernization of India accelerates, tobacco advertising and marketing have been linked to increased tobacco use by urban Indian children as young as 11, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health. The study, "Associations Between Tobacco Marketing and Use Among Urban Youth In India," is published in the May/June issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior. Findings from an earlier published study by the researchers revealed that in 2004, Indian sixth graders were using three times the amount of tobacco as eighth graders, which the authors found might indicate a new wave of increased tobacco use. The second study sought to discover the reason for the jump. EurekAlert Deborah.M.Lake@uth.tmc.edu India Fri, 02 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=126901 http://tobacco.org/news/264989.html Ohio has dismantled a foundation that paid for a statewide anti-smoking campaign, prompting the advertising agency that handled the account to lay off 27 employees May 5. Northlich, Cincinnati, has handled the creative and media efforts for the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation since 2002, winning a review against other shops in late 2007. "It's a tragedy that such a successful program may not continue," Northlich CEO Kathy Selker said in a statement. "I can't begin to express the depth of the personal and professional commitments our people made. ... When you know that 40% fewer teens smoke today than when we began this program, you know we've made a true difference." . . . In what The Columbus Dispatch called a "huge miscalculation," the foundation even tried to keep lawmakers' hands off the money by transferring the cash to the coffers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit based in Washington. Advertising Age mfrazier@adage.com (Mya Frazier) Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A762551 http://tobacco.org/news/264924.html Parliament is considering the second part of the Tobacco Bill, which was split into two on technical grounds in 2006. The first, the “section 75” bill, dealt primarily with smoking in public places, and was signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki in February. The second, the “section 76” bill, goes to the heart of tobacco firms’ business, as it proposes tightening the existing restrictions on the advertising and promotion of their products. Yesterday the Tobacco Institute, JTI and BAT complained in separate presentations to Parliament’s health committee that they had not been properly consulted by the health department on the section 76 bill. BAT spokeswoman Fay Kajee said the company was prepared to go to the Constitutional Court to ensure proper public consultation, if need be. Business Day bdonline@bdfm.co.za (Tamar Kahn / Science and Health Editor) South Africa Thu, 08 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://mudgee.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/new-antismoking-plans/485470.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/264907.html The State Government’s proposed new anti-smoking measures have drawn rave reviews from the local Cancer Council and a mixed response from Mudgee regional residents. Anti-smoking proposals contained in a discussion paper released last week by Premier Morris Iemma include removing cigarettes from customers’ line of sight, banning all cigarette vending machines and outlawing smoking in cars with children. The idea is to reduce children’s exposure and access to cigarettes and tobacco products. Mudgee Guardian Australia Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Health/2008/05/06/tobacco_sells_in_india_despite_ad_ban/7275/ http://tobacco.org/news/264813.html Although tobacco ads are banned in India, Indian youth are smoking now more than ever, U.S. researchers said. Researchers at the University of Texas in Houston study said they sought to learn why Indian sixth graders used three times the amount of tobacco eight graders used -- after tobacco advertising had been banned in 2004. The study, published in the American Journal of Health Behavior, found 37 percent of the 11,642 sixth and eighth graders they surveyed in India had seen tobacco advertising in more than four places while 50 percent had seen advertising in one to four places -- despite the ban. UPI India Tue, 06 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT