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[alwaysfishn]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/health/tobacco-court-order/index.html

"Tobacco companies have been ordered by a federal judge to publicly admit, through advertisements and package warnings, that they deceived American consumers for decades about the dangers of smoking.

Federal Judge Gladys Kessler issued her ruling Tuesday in one of the last legal steps settling liability in the long-running government prosecution of cigarette makers.

"By ensuring that consumers know that [tobacco companies] have misled the public in the past on the issue of secondhand smoke in addition to putting forth the fact that a scientific consensus on this subject exists," said Kessler, "defendants will be less likely to attempt to argue in the future that such a consensus does not exist. .........."


It's about time!  Now if we could get a judge to have the feedlots admit the dangers of their product.....

[adriaticum]

How did they lie and deceive the public?
I have never heard of a case of parent telling their child to start smoking because it's good for them.
Never.

Most of the tobacco advertising appealed to people's self esteem and the sense of "cool".
I don't ever remember seing an add that says it's healthy for you.

What's next?
Tony Little's Abrider Plus?

I mean in these ads they are showing buff guys who go to the Gym every day for most of their lives and make us believe that we can have the same six pack.
If we are going to go after false advertising(which I believe we should), then lets go after all of them.
Not just a few select ones that have tonnes of money.

It's a bloody witch hunt if you ask me.

To me this is a simple matter of principle.

[alwaysfishn]

I don't understand how you can't see the lies and deceit....  Would it be ok for a company to advertise that sipping from a bottle of arsenic is "cool"? That's what the tobacco companies have been/are doing.

Besides the individuals health, look at the cost to our health care system. I've heard that the cost related to smoking exceeds the tax revenue that the government collects on a ratio of 5:1. That is just stupid in my opinion.

[dnibbles]

And beer is different how? Last time I checked there's one or two ads on TV for that.

Lawsuits like this just reinforce the lack of personal responsibility that seems to be pervading society. It's not my fault I smoked 3 packs a day, I was misled!!!!!!!

note: I don't smoke. Although you'll probably mabel me a pro-tobacco lot boy lol.

[adriaticum]

alwaysfishin,
If you saw some guy jump off patullo would you do it?
I don't think so.

I don't think you will find a tobacco ad that says, "Tobacco is good fo you" and like I said no mother has ever told their child, "Go ahead son, smoke, you are a real man".

It's called "survival of the fittest" pal or like nibbs said, lack of personal responsibility.

[alwaysfishn]

I would agree with you that everyone should be responsible for their own actions, however taking that approach would mean there would be no food inspection standards, no Health Canada drug review agency, etc.

American businesses spend $70 billion a year on advertising......  because it works.

"Successful advertising rarely succeeds through argument or calls to action. Instead, it creates positive memories and feelings that influence our behavior over time to encourage us to buy something at a later date. No one likes to think that they are easily influenced. In fact, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that we respond negatively to naked attempts at persuasion. "

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/08/why-good-advertising-works-even-when-you-think-it-doesnt/244252/

[skaha]

--Not that simple... in the case of Phillip Morris.. the deception was tied to the use of mild or light indicating less nicotine... also that the addition of a filter removed all not some harmful toxins.
--A little more subtle than saying they were good.

[work2fish]

How did they lie and deceive the public?
I have never heard of a case of parent telling their child to start smoking because it's good for them.
Never.

How did they lie and deceive the public? ask the judge that just ruled against them. 

Most of the tobacco advertising appealed to people's self esteem and the sense of "cool".
I don't ever remember seeing an add that says it's healthy for you.

Not specifically perhaps, oh wait they used to publish stuff like this, I wonder what the implied message was?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sa_steve/3115672405/

What's next?
Tony Little's Abrider Plus?

I mean in these ads they are showing buff guys who go to the Gym every day for most of their lives and make us believe that we can have the same six pack.
If we are going to go after false advertising(which I believe we should), then lets go after all of them.
Not just a few select ones that have tonnes of money.

It's a bloody witch hunt if you ask me.

To me this is a simple matter of principle.

Difference being you could use the abrider to get fit.  Oh ya and it doesn't cause cancer.  What claim did they make which is impossible? 

It's kinda funny to see you use the same style of arguments eg"I have never heard of a case of parent telling their child to start smoking because it's good for them. Never." yup true, I've never heard that either, and if they did they'd also be criminally liable for putting their child at risk.  It also has nothing to do with why tobacco lost this case.

While I somewhat agree that advertising does take advantage of people, and people do need to take more personal responsibility, this lawsuit was about the tobacco companies knowingly misleading the public by using spin and BS to cloud the science around the issues and further their agenda, not about getting money for people who got cancer after smoking cigarettes.

[troutbreath]

That Camel ad is a beauty.

The only thing the doctor was not doing was giving stinger hits to a baby to make smoking look OK.

[adriaticum]

I don't know work2fish, judges are the last people I would ask for justice.

The Camel ad doesn't have anything that is untrue.
It's possible that doctors preferred Camels.

The ad is "suggestive" and left to interpretation, I agree.
But that's nothing different than Tony Little's Ab sculptor. 

That's what ads are. They are suggestive.That the ads are corrupting our common sense, that's a whole other thread.
That's the world we live in.

They may have claimed that cigarette's don't cause cancer.
And maybe they didn't have any valid scientific data to suggest that they did.

But the same can be said for GMO foods.
I mean we didn't have any data to suggest that these foods cause cancer 30 years ago.
But now some data is trickling out that suggests that some GMOs do cause cancer.

Do we go after all the companies that sold GMO foods when data wasn't available?

Or asbestos, or silicone breast implants 

I mean that's basically how the regulatory system works. It has a trial period.
I do agree that in some places the regulatory systems don't work and are corrupt. Sure.

All this is really about is some executive at some tobacco company pissed off someone from the regulatory system and they are on a vendetta.
Government wants more money into it's coffers and they saw an opportunity to do it and knew they would have support from the public.
They claim it's going to go into the healthcare system, but this money it will not change a thing.

[alwaysfishn]

......... but this money it will not change a thing.

Sure it will...  The consumer gets a bit more education, government regulators become more cautious in approving products, and companies become a little more conscious of the risk reward aspect of marketing a questionable product.

[Burbot]

If governments were serious about people quitting smoking they would make it outright illegal. they love the tax revenue, same with alcohol.

Personally fast food and junk food is just as bad. Look at the obesity epidemic which is caused by fast/junk food and the lazy lifestyle, fast food also raises blood pressure, causes diabetes, obesity which also leads to knee problems, various cancers and other ailments. Fast/Junk food causes everything and more than smoking except for lung cancer.

There are other foods that lie to. Fruit fiction: Is it blueberry or blue dye?

[adriaticum]

If governments were serious about people quitting smoking they would make it outright illegal. they love the tax revenue, same with alcohol.

Personally fast food and junk food is just as bad. Look at the obesity epidemic which is caused by fast/junk food and the lazy lifestyle, fast food also raises blood pressure, causes diabetes, obesity which also leads to knee problems, various cancers and other ailments. Fast/Junk food causes everything and more than smoking except for lung cancer.

There are other foods that lie to. Fruit fiction: Is it blueberry or blue dye?

Amen!