ASH Australia media release                                        April 27, 2005

Time to end “light/mild” cigarette scam

Call for industry accountability and ban on all misleading terms 

 
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Health groups have called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to end misleading tobacco branding (“light”, “mild” and all similar terms), and for the tobacco industry to make amends for the huge toll of death, disability, illness and social costs arising from the consumer fraud.

Following media reports today of a “deal” between tobacco companies and the ACCC, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia called on the Federal Government and the ACCC to:

  • Ban all misleading labelling such as “light” and “mild” as well as alternative descriptors and packaging which indicate similar concepts;
  • Investigate a ban on filter ventilation, which is the principal means by which this fraud has been perpetrated;
  • Remove FTC/ISO yields on the side of cigarette packets - because they are not only meaningless, but misleading;
  • Implement a large-scale sustained national education campaign, funded by the tobacco industry but developed and managed by governments or health organisations, to counter the misleading of consumers over “light” and “mild” cigarettes; and
  • Fund litigation to make the tobacco industry pay for past harm caused by the scam.

Research shows up to 90% of Australian smokers smoke “low-delivery” brands and 55% of them believe that these are less harmful.* However, these brands are just as damaging because nicotine-addicted smokers inhale more deeply and smoke more of the cigarette.

Says Anne Jones, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia: “The tobacco companies should be publicly condemned by the ACCC and Federal Government for refusing to end the ‘Light/Mild’ scam – one of the biggest consumer frauds of all time.

“They should also be prevented from using other misleading terms like ‘smooth’ and ‘fresh’.

“We call on the tobacco industry to admit they have conned their consumers into believing lights are less harmful, and to pay for sustained and independent counter-advertising and improved support services for the majority of smokers who smoke lights and want to quit.”

Quit estimates that a sustained campaign to counter the harm from the lights scam, reducing the proportion of  users believing they are less harmful from 55% to 5%, would cost around 200m.

 

* See Borland et al in Nicotine and Tobacco Research (2004) at  www.ashaust.org.au/pdfs/LightBeliefNTR04.pdf


Comment:   Anne Jones, CEO, ASH Australia  ph. (02) 9334-1876  m. 0417-227-879

Media inquiries:     Stafford Sanders   ph. (02) 9334-1823   m. 0412-070-194     

 

Page last updated on 27/4/05