Pubdate: Fri 16 Oct 1999 Source: Guardian Weekly, The (UK) Copyright: 1999 The Guardian Weekly Contact: 75 Farringdon Road London U.K EC1M 3HQ Fax: 44-171-242-0985 Website: http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/GWeekly/ Author: Sarah Boseley, Health Correspondent FREE CAMERA IF YOU SMOKE 1,600 MARLBORO From The Firm Which Admits Cigarettes Are Addictive British Telecom, Seiko and other leading brand names have supplied lifestyle goods for a Marlboro promotional campaign accused of enticing young people to increase their cigarette consumption. The disclosure follows the admission this week by Philip Morris, manufacturer of Marlboro, that smoking is addictive. Yesterday the World Health Organisation accused the company of trying to push young people into addiction by encouraging them to smoke more. The tobacco company denies the charge, claiming that the gifts, such as a camera in exchange for proof of buying 1,600 Marlboro cigarettes, are a reward for brand loyalty. BT, Seiko and clothing manufacturers White Stuff admit ted signing contracts with the tobacco manufacturer Rothmans, who organised the promotion for Philip Morris. Other goods manufacturers claimed ignorance, saying the deal had been done by agencies on their behalf. Peter Anderson, head of the European arm of the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative, said it was hypocritical of Philip Morris to be encouraging young people to smoke more when it had just admitted that cigarettes are addictive. "It just shows how two-faced they are," he said. "They have one public message and then do the complete opposite." The campaign, which is still going on, targets people of 18 and over. They are offered leisure items in exchange for smoking dozens of packets of Marlboro. For 80 pack foils, they can have a Nikon Nuvis A20 camera, for 70 they receive a Sanyo CD player, for 60 they get a Lorus watch made by Seiko and for 50 a BT EasyReach pager. If they smoke 40 packets, they can have a White Stuff fleece and, for 25, a moleskin shirt. Young people in clubs have been targeted by the promotion. The WHO's Bristol-based newsletter Health!, which has been investigating the campaign discovered that youngsters were being handed free packets of cigarettes in exchange for their names and addresses. Later they received a box through the post that contains leaflets promoting the accessories. Some companies said they regretted getting involved, while others maintained ethical issues had nothing to do with business. BT said the decision to take part had been a mistake. "We had been approached to supply some pagers for the brochure and someone said yes," said a spokesman, Robert Dunnett. "They shouldn't have done. We're sorry about it." Seiko was unrepentant. "We, along with many, many other consumer goods manufacturers have been involved with the cigarette manufacturers since Noah was a boy," said group marketing manager David Innes. "While you can make moral judgments about whether we should be or not, we're in the business of selling watches." White Stuff clothing's managing director George Treves said: "We were not aware of the nature of the campaign. We didn't know it was going to be targeted so directly at a youth market." A spokeswoman for Nikon, Elaine Swift, said the company had not been approached directly. "We do use third-party agencies and we are assuming that the promotion was arranged through one of them," she said. "We will be reviewing how we work with these agencies to ensure that similar situations do not occur in the future." Sanyo, maker of the CD player in the promotion, did not return the Guardian's calls yesterday." Philip Morris vigorously defends its right to mount such promotions. A spokesman likened the promotion to the collection of Green Shield stamps - "We reward brand loyalty among Marlboro smokers," he said. He added: "It is worrying to have the WHO criticising legitimate business practice that is fully approved by and compliant with government wishes." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea