Tobacco and Public Health - TCSC Indonesia

LYNN T. KOZLOWSKI AND RICHARD J. O’CONNOR 39
problem. Its famous purifying process removes certain impurities that are concealed in even the
choicest, mildest tobacco leaves. Luckies created that process. Only Lucky’s have it!
(cited in Brecher et al. 1963)
It later proclaims: ‘IT’S TOASTED! Your protection against irritation, against cough’ (as
cited in Brecher et al. 1963). This advertisement sets Lucky Strike ® apart from other
cigarettes as purer and safer to inhale. What supposedly sets ‘Luckies’ apart is their
special processing, which removes unspecified impurities (a technical ‘innovation’).
Other ads at the time touted cigarettes as so healthful athletes could smoke them
without affecting their performance (see Lewine 1970).
Filter tips and the ‘tar derby’
The introduction of the filter tip, and the concomitant ‘tar derby’, is one of the best
examples of reassurance marketing. Beginning in the 1950s, concern began to appear
about the tar content of cigarettes and its relationship to disease (e.g. Wynder and
Graham 1950; Doll and Hill 1952). Although manufacturers have argued that the
introduction of filter tips was only circumstantially related to health concerns (e.g.
Tilley 1985), recently revealed industry documents tell a different story. Ernest Pepples,
Vice-President and General Counsel for Brown and Williamson Tobacco, noted in
1976 that ‘the manufacturers’ marketing strategy has been to overcome and even to
make marketing use of the smoking/health connection [emphasis added]’ (as cited in
Glantz et al. 1996). Pepples wrote that the smoker had abandoned regular (unfiltered
cigarettes) because of health concerns, and that ‘… the ‘tar derby’ in the United States
resulted from industry efforts to cater to the public’s concern and to attract consumers
to the new filtered brands’ (as cited in Glantz et al. 1996).
Filters, although they appeared as early as the 1930s, did not begin to become popular
until the 1950s. During this time, filters made of paper, asbestos, and cellulose
acetate, among other materials, were attached to cigarettes. Kents ® were promoted as
the ‘greatest health protection in cigarette history’ (an ironic claim given the Micronite
filter contained asbestos). Other manufacturers were making similar claims regarding
the health benefits of their filters (see Table 3.1).
At the height of the tar derby of the late 1950s, the United States Congress held a
hearing on false and misleading advertising of filter-tip cigarettes (False and Misleading
Advertising 1957), now known as the Blatnik report (Tilley 1985; see Kozlowski
2000 for discussion). During the hearing, the then Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
chairman, Sechrest, testified about the Cigarette Advertising Guides developed by his
agency (15 September 1955). The Guide specifically prohibited health or physical
claims, forbade linking filters to such claims, and eliminated false testimonials. All this
seems to have been a legitimate effort to eliminate the most far-fetched health claims.
Chairman Sechrest noted that: ‘Prior to the issuance of the guides, cigarette advertising
generally involved health claims. Since their issuance, the theme of all such advertising,