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Scientists have produced evidence that suggests links between cigarette smoking and a variety of other cancers—of the lip, larynx, esophagus and bladder —as well as ailments as varied as peptic ulcers and psoriasis. The U.S. Public Health Service reports that non-smokers on the average live four years longer than two-pack-a-day smokers, and eight years longer than four-pack smokers. Small wonder that last month, when the Tobacco Institute sent out a press release disputing the cigarette opposition, so few newspapers printed the story that the industry had to buy space to run the release in full-page newspaper ads.
Tobacco men raise an economic argument in their defense, correctly pointing out that their industry is a large source of taxes, exports and jobs. Congressmen from tobacco states warn that any actions damaging the industry would force Negro field hands out of jobs and cause them to move North, further swelling the ghettos and relief rolls. The economic problem is real enough, and manufacturers are dealing with it partly by continuing the diversification drive that has brought them into such areas as liquor and clothing, soft drinks and pet food. Reflecting the trend, RJ. Reynolds and American plan to drop "Tobacco" from their corporate names.
Yet the fears of deserted farms, silent factories and mass migrations of workers are exaggerated. Nobody in Congress expects or even calls for an outright ban on the sale of cigarettes; the painful memories of Prohibition are still too clear for anything like that. The current debate focuses not on sales but on advertising and promotion.
What would be the effects of an advertising blackout? Complete or partial bans on cigarette ads are in effect in Britain, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Rumania, Poland, Russia and Bulgaria—but people continue to smoke. In Britain, the Labor government struck cigarette advertising from TV in 1966, from magazines and newspapers in 1967. Last year, as cigarette sales stubbornly reached new highs, the government abolished games, coupons and other forms of promotion. Britons persist in smoking cigarettes in record numbers and, as usual, right down to their fingertips.
In the U.S., a complete ad ban would wipe out many new brands struggling to reach profitability. On the other hand, an FCC ban on broadcast advertising would save the manufacturers the $225 million or so a year—about three-quarters of their total ad budgets—that they spend on TV and radio. They would invest that money in many ways — in other advertising media, in such promotions as games and coupons, in acquisitions, and in raising their already generous dividends. Those possibilities have aroused new investor interest in the long-depressed tobacco stocks, and many of them have enjoyed a modest rally over the past few months.