HVK Archives: How the poorest will pay for US smokers
How the poorest will pay for US smokers - Independent on Sunday<BR>
David Usborne and Tim Cornwell
()
6 July 1997
Title: How the poorest will pay for US smokers
Author: David Usborne and Tim Cornwell
Publication: Independent on Sunday<BR>
Date: July 6, 1997
The tobacco industry faces a =A3220bn health settlement in America, write
David Usborne and Time Cornwell - but the market for cigarettes is booming
in developing countries
The Landscape of America is about to change. With his knowing eyes and
cowboy complexion, the Marlboro Man is shortly to step down from billboards
across the nation and ride away to the horizon. Following behind, doubtless
in an open-top roadster with his billiard cue across the backseat, will be
the ineffably cool Joe Camel. whither do they flee? To Poland China,
Vietnam and South Africa.
Last month the US tobacco giants entered the landmark deal in tie US to bow
to sweeping new controls on their operations and to pay out $368bn (=A3219bn)
over 25 years in return for protection from the raft of legal challenges
ranged against them. This autumn, assuming Congress approves the terms of
the settlement, Marlboro Man will finally ride into the sunset. Cigarette
makers will be barred from using any human images in their advertising, as
well as cartoon figures such as Joe Camel.<BR>
Marlboro Man, around since the 1950s, is the most successful image in the
history of cigarette advertising. "Marlboro Country" commercialised the
dream of the American West, in the image of the loner who mixed manliness
and wanderlust Marlboro Man's star was waning well before the settlement
was announced - at least two models for the Marlboro cowboy ads died of
lung cancer But while the deal's fate in the US is itself unsure, what will
it mean for the rest of the world?
Answer: plenty. Already, the tobacco combines - Philip Morns and British
American Tobacco (BAT) foremost among them ~ have been strenuously
increasing sales abroad. last year, for the first time, exports accounted
for half of net revenue at Philip Morris, owner of the Marlboro brand. For
US manufacturers generally, exports grew 260 per cent from 1986 to 1996, of
which 40 per cent went to Asia.
If the US deal becomes law that yearning for foreign markets will
intensify. Take Philip Morris. Last year its earnings hit about $7bn -
roughly equivalent to what it will have to pay out annually under the US
settlement. It will need extra revenue. Some will come from raising prices
in the US. Probably more will come from growth abroad.
Anti-smoking advocates ore stirring in London, Brussels, Canada, Israel and
Australia. Governments are considering bills that would allow lawsuits
against cigarette makers. But no one is better at insinuating themselves
into the cultures and hearts of countries - especially Third World
countries -than the traveling duo of Joe and the Marlboro Man.
The Middle East
Piety, it seems, goes with smoking. For while Saudi Arabia strictly bans
all alcohol and drugs, the Kingdom which contains Islam's two holiest
shrines smokes more cigarettes a man than almost any other nation in the
Arab world, a total of 2,130 per adult male every year. US cigarettes are
pouring into the Gulf - Saudi's 6m people buy 3.1 per cent of the world's
foreign-produced cigarettes.
In Iran, smoking has been banned in government offices and the authorities
have undertaken a serious anti-smoking campaign, but statistics for its
Arab neighbours show a steady climb in smoking, from 700 cigarettes per man
in the early 1970s to 930 today. In the Islamic Middle East - the UN oddly
putting Israers average 2,290 cigarettes per person into the European
category - 35 per cent of men smoke, but only 4 per cent of women. To puff
away in the Arab world is as macho as it once was in Europe and America.
The road into town from Beirut airport is lined with Marlboro cowboys. The
government issues health warnings but no self-respecting Lebanese home is
without a massive bowl of Winstons, Marlboros and Kents on the living room
table. Shops, restaurants, buses and cabs reek of tobacco, as they do in
Syria, Jordan, Egypt and the Maghreb. Algeria more or less equals Saudi
Arabia in cigarette consumption - at least 50 per cent of men smoke. In
Algiers, where they have much to smoke about, the population can puff away
on a "Tariq", in Cairo on a "Cleopatra". And you can forget about filters.
China
China is the world's biggest tobacco market, with 320 million smokers
puffing their way through 1,700bn [that's 1,700,000,000,000] cigarettes a
year The overall number of smokers is rising by 2 per cent a year. It adds
up to the biggest potential new market for foreign tobacco companies in the
world. Most major cities now ban smoking in many public venues, from
schools and hospitals to museums and sports stadiums; but rules are
frequently ignored. In Peking the fine for illegal smoking is just 10 yuan
(80p). Smoking is still permitted m government offices and very few
restaurants have no-smoking areas. Since 1995, tobacco ads have been
banned on radio and TV, in newspapers, magazines and cinemas. But there are
many other avenues for tobacco manufacturers to explore, notably sports
sponsorship. Philip Morris, the US tobacco giant, sponsors the Marlboro
league, China's first professional football competition.
Foreign cigarettes account for a small fraction of the Chinese market,
despite rampant smuggling. The government - via its monopoly on cigarette
production - remains the world's largest cigarette manufacturer. Smoking
is deeply-ingrained smoking in the culture. Both Mao Zedong and Deng
Xiaoping (until doctors ordered him to stop) were lifelong chain smokers.
Government cadres are still unable to address weighty matters without a
cigarette in the hand. And some of the smokiest zones are China's booming
stockmarkets.
Japan
Earlier this year, a group of anti-smoking campaigners started a legal
action against their prime minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto, on the ground that
as a smoker he was in breach of the constitution, which guarantees citizens
the right to a healthy environment. He was unimpressed. "I will continue to
smoke as much as possible," he promised, "bearing in mind the tax revenues
from tobacco, but keeping an eye on my own health." Japanese politicians
still enthusiastically acknowledge the financial benefits of their
citizens' addiction. Japan Tobacco, the state monopoly, sponsors Tokyo's
Tobacco and Salt Museum, dedicated to eminent smokers. Ads feature smoking
athletes, smoking film stars and glamorous young people having fun.
Increasingly, restaurants and public areas have no smoking areas. But the
general approach is me of feeble tokenism. The health warning on packs is
notoriously, limp: "For the sake of our health," it timidly suggests,
"let's not smoke too much."
Africa
In 1990 Africa boasted the lowest cigarette consumption level in the world;
a rate comparable to that of developed countries in the 1920s. But, says,
Dr Yussuf Saloojee, executive director of South Africa's National Council
Against Smoking, the big cigarette companies intend to change that. In
many countries people do not even know that smoking damages health. Even
in South Africa only 47 per cent of people in a recent survey knew that
smoking caused cancer.
In countries like Egypt and Kenya consumption of cigarettes rose by 5 and
14.7 per cent respectively between 1990 and 1995. But in South Africa and
neighbouring Zimbabwe consumption has fallen just as dramatically. While
vigorous health campaigns have helped, price is believed to be the prime
reason for the drop. South Africa's cigarette tax is now almost 50 per cent
of the retail price of a pack But the cigarette companies toil on
undeterred and new groups are being targeted. While 33 per cent of women
in the white minority smoke, cultural pressure has ensured only 10 per cent
of black women have picked up the habit.
East Europe and the Balkans
At under US$2 (=A31.19) for a pack of 20, Western brand-name cigarettes
remain relatively cheap in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in the region,
where they are a status symbol, particularly among the young. Add to that
far fewer controls on tobacco advertising, and very few measures aimed at
regulating smoking in public places, and the region remains a veritable
smokers'- and cigarette manufacturers' - paradise. Certainly that is how
the big tobacco concerns have viewed it, with Philip Morris, J K Reynolds
and BAT all quick to push their own brands into the region and then pump
million of dollars into buying controlling stakes in some of the big local
cigarette manufacturers. In 1995 Philip Moms controlled over 75 per cent
of the Czech market.
But the writing may yet be on the wall. Earlier this year Czech president
Vaclav Havel, formerly an enthusiastic smoker, had half his right lung
removed after contracting cancer. Although he managed one final puff
(together with the health minister) immediately before the operation, he
emerged afterwards a reformed character - and non-smoker. "If s a start,"
said Dr Hana Sovinova, long-suffering director of the Czech Republic's
anti-smoking campaign.
In Serbia and Croatia smoking alongside drinking slivovitz (plum brandy)
from 10am onwards, is an essential part of being a "normal" male. A common
sight, especially in Serbia, is a proud father in a cafe dandling his
infant one on his knee and plying him with his first strong drink and a
puff to the applause of the assembled women of the family. Marlboro reigns
supreme, through few packets on sale are genuine. There's a vast industry
producing fake Marlboros in Montenegro. Look out for those soft packets and
fuzzy designs.
India
Cigarettes are a booming business in India: production rose 17 per cent
between 1995 and 1996, from 79 to 95 billion per year and foreign brands
have also prospered. Philip Morris have succeeded in making Marlboro and
Marlboro Lights the cigarette of choice for middle-class youth. Domestic
brands continue to sponsor sporting and artistic events, though this may be
banned soon. Packs carry a small and gentle wanting ("Cigarette smoking is
injurious to health"). Since 1990 smoking has been banned in hospitals,
schools and colleges, domestic flights and certain trains and buses. No TV
or hoarding ads are allowed. More than 80 per cent of tobacco is consumed
by the masses in the form of very cheap bidis (tiny cheroots), chewing
tobacco and snuff. While leading brands of cigarettes cost a little under
=A31 for 20, bidis are 10p for a bundle of 25.
Higher up the social scale, smoking is a growing fad among middle-class
adolescents as young as 12 or 14. Indian women rarely smoke in public, but
female students, tempted since 1990 by a domestic brand called Ms (A Lady's
Privilege') are adopting the habit, too.
(Reports by : Robert Fisk, Teresa Poole, Richard Lloyd-Parry, Mary Braid,
Adrian Bridge, Marcus Tanner and Peter popham; additional research by Sarah
Gillinson.)
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