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Play It Again is a section of the journal where we re-publish quotes, gaffes, and immortal lines from friends and foes of tobacco control. Please send any contributions to this page to Simon Chapman, deputy editor, at the address on the inside front cover. Please enclose an original version or photocopy of the sourced item. This issue’s column was compiled by Simon Chapman and Ron Davis.
“Sophisticated, enigmatic, or macho. Top class, cosmopolitan, or wild and free, image sells tobacco products. And packaging is at the heart of the image making process. Which is why the strongest brands choose Lawson Mardon Packaging to bring their products to life.”
One to remember next time you hear the tobacco industry attempting to claim packaging is not integral to their marketing strategies. In: Advertisement, Lawson Mardon Packaging. Bringing Products to Life.Tobacco Reporter Aug 1997:21.
“We think it’s truly an excellent settlement.”
Lawyer Stanley Rosenblatt, after the tobacco industry agreed to pay $349 million to settle a $5 billion class-action lawsuit brought by 60 000 flight attendants who said they’d been injured by inhaling secondhand smoke in airline cabins. Rosenblatt and his wife and law partner Susan earned $49 million from the case. In: Sanger E. Couple-at-law beats big tobacco. New York Newsday 1997;Oct 11.
In reference to the settlement of the “Broin” class-action lawsuit brought by attorney Stanley Rosenblatt and his wife Susan, on behalf of flight attendants harmed by secondhand smoke. OLIPHANT © 1997, Universal Press Syndicate. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
“It is the largest set of legal fees in the history of the world.”
Lester Brickman, professor at the Benjamin N Cardozo School of Law in New York, claiming legal fees in the United States settlement could be as much as $15–20 billion. “This is a non-story”, said Attorney Stanley Chesley, working for Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery, declining to speak about his fee arrangements. In: Barton P. Tobacco deal huge for lawyers. Enquirer Washington Bureau 1997; Oct 12.
“We wish to make the point that there are approximately 1,400 tobacco retailers in Tasmania who will be financially affected by the provisions [of a proposed new law] seeking to . . . move the display of tobacco products away from the display of confectionary.”
Excerpt from letter to Tasmania’s state premier from Michael Herskope (Philip Morris), David George (Rothmans), and Susan Povey (WD & HO Wills), 3 October 1997.
“Today I found myself in need of a loaf of bread. Imagine my chagrin upon visiting a local store and finding no advertisements for the bread and only one loaf of each variety on display. Naturally, I did not buy the bread and have no doubt neither will thousands of others. Indubitably this will have dire financial repercussions for the retailers who are selling a legal product.”
A delightfully sarcastic letter to The Hobart Mercury (Tasmania), 16 October 1997, from Scott McDonald. The Tasmanian health minister has proposed that all in-store tobacco advertising be banned and that retailers be allowed to display only one pack of each brand. The tobacco industry has gone ballistic.
Television journalist Linda Ellerbee, who quit smoking after her breast cancer diagnosis.
American senator Paul Wellstone, who notes that the tobacco companies “don’t like me much”. Source: Northwest Airlines WorldTraveler, August 1997.
“A lot of these markets didn’t have marketing before we were there. Frankly, monopolies don’t have to market.”
Elizabeth Cho, an American spokeswoman for Philip Morris International. For many years Kenya had a tobacco monopoly (BAT), which was the nation’s fourth highest advertiser. In: Stancill N. Teen-age smoking explodes globally. Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer 1997; Oct 21.
Q: Have you changed other daily habits? Are you healthier?
A: Of course I quit smoking. What kind of fool would get cancer and not quit smoking? I started trying to take better care of the only body I’m ever going to have. (But) if they tell me I’ve got three months left, I’m out the door to buy a carton of Merits.
American television journalist Linda Ellerbee, a breast cancer survivor, in an interview in the premier issue of MAMM magazine. Source: Rubenstein H. And so it goes: Linda Ellerbee. MAMM Magazine 1997;Oct/Nov: 32–7.
“Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.”
Actress Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokeswoman for a federal anti-smoking campaign. In: Brief. Raleigh (North Carolina) News & Observer 1997;Oct 21.
“Totally different.”
Rothmans Holdings Australia chairman, John Utz, responding to questions about whether Australian cigarettes were addictive or deadly like American cigarettes, following the announcement of the United States settlement. He did not divulge how they differed. In: Harris T. US smokes not like ours. The Weekend Australian 1997;Jul 12–13:7.
“There has been, in my view, a tad too much sanctimoniousness over tobacco advertising. On both sides of the debate, the propaganda borders on unreality.... A lot of consumer products, except for hemorrhoid medications and a few other things, are aimed at youth.”
Ferrel Guillory, a University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) professor who analyses tobacco for a research firm. In: Stancill N. Teen-age smoking explodes globally. Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer 1997;Oct 21.
Note in Proof
“It’s true the pharmaceutical companies and the tobacco companies and the big insurance companies don’t like me much. But they already have plenty of representation here in Washington. It’s the rest of the people who need representation. My job is to stand up for the working families of Minnesota, and that’s what I do.”
American senator Paul Wellstone, from Minnesota. Source: Ammeson J. Senator Paul Wellstone. Northwest Airlines WorldTraveler 1997;Aug:74–6.