Cancer Society Seeks to Eliminate Cigarette Ads
The American Cancer Society is calling for elimination of all advertising of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, its president said Sunday.
That includes an end to cigarette companies’ sponsorship of sporting events, rock concerts and other activities that attract audiences of young people, Dr. Charles A. LeMaistre told the society’s seminar for science writers.
The proposal, similar to those endorsed by the American Medical Assn. and American Lung Assn., was approved recently by the cancer society’s board of directors, LeMaistre said.
Restrictions on Ads
“As a first step we have called for the elimination of all models and scenery in this advertising, and asked that illustrations be limited to a simple depiction of cigarette packages,” LeMaistre said. “The society does recommend that advertising copy should merely feature the tar and nicotine content of the product, one of the four rotating warning messages from the surgeon general, and the price of the product.”
The board’s resolution sets no timetable for the proposals but notes the society’s commitment to a “smoke-free young America” by the year 2000.
The society had called on the tobacco industry in 1967 to voluntarily stop all cigarette advertising. The new resolution leaves open the possibility of government action, said society spokesman Irving Rimer.
Lung Cancer Statistics
The cancer society blames cigarettes for about 83% of America’s lung cancer cases, with 149,000 new lung cancer cases expected this year. Smokeless tobacco has been linked to oral cancer.
The AMA urged in December that the federal government ban advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Earlier last year, the then-president of the cancer society, Dr. Robert McKenna, called for a congressional investigation of cigarette advertising and marketing practices aimed at young people.
Tobacco industry representatives have said a ban on print media ads would violate their rights to free speech, and that such advertising is aimed at influencing people who already smoke rather than enticing non-smokers.
