Editorial
AMA shouldn’t aim
for tobacco ad ban
Cigarette ads have been banned from broadcast media
since 1971, and if the American Medical Association is suc
cessful in its most recent anti-tobacco crusade, cigarettes,
chewing tobacco and other tobacco products will be pro
hibited from all advertising.
In a policy approved Tuesday, the AMA announced in
tentions to urge legislators to ban tobacco product advertis
ing from all media. Use of tobacco products is linked to
cancer, and advertisements encourage people to use it, the
association argues.
The association is correct in citing a link between
cigarettes and cancer, but it is not justified in seeking a
blanket prohibition of all tobacco advertising.
First, a ban would infringe on the industry’s First
Amendment right to freedom of expression. The manufac
ture and sale of tobacco products are legal. Thus the in
dustry has a right to advertise its products.
The reasoning behind a ban on cigarette broadcast
advertising is understandable — it is generally assumed peo
ple have little control over advertisements they are exposed
to while watching and/or listening to regular programming.
But a ban on other forms of advertising cannot be justified.
People can choose what they look at and read when faced
with print or outdoor advertising.
The AMA also asserts tobacco advertisements persuade
people to smoke. This hints at a question that is probably as
old as advertising itself: Does advertising make people do
things they do not want to do?
No. Advertising does not convince people to do
anything they would not do otherwise. It simply increases
consumer awareness of products and product features.
Advertising usually boosts product sales because people are
more likely to purchase a product they recognize and know
something about. Suggesting advertising manipulates peo
ple far underestimates people’s capability to make in
telligent choices.
The ban also would discriminate against tobacco pro
ducts. A direct causal relationship between tobacco use and
disease has not been established, but it is likely that tobacco
does cause disease. But if tobacco is banned from advertis
ing because of a link to disease, why not prohibit alcohol,
coffee, tea, high cholesterol foods and foods with high sugat
content from advertising?
Clearly, alcohol consumption can cause death, par
ticularly when combined with driving. Consumption of
high cholesterol foods can cause hardening of the arteries,
sugary foods can cause obesity which can lead to heart
disease and other maladies, and recently reported evidence
links caffeine consumption to heart disease. Tobacco is ad
dictive, but alcohol and caffeine are as well, and a good case
could be made for at least a psychological addiction to
unhealthy foods.
The ban also would infringe on consumer choice. If all
forms of tobacco advertising were illegal, consumers would
have limited access to information about new products and
differences between existing products. Cigarettes are not
homogenous, but available in varied tar levels, lengths,
flavors and with or without filters. Consumers that choose to
smoke have a right to information concerning a legal
product.
Economic factors are also involved. Newspapers and
particularly magazines, advertising agencies and owners of
outdoor advertising facilities such as billboards rely heavily
on income derived from cigarette and tobacco product
advertising. A ban on tobacco advertising would extend far
beyond the tobacco companies.
Warning.- Smoking may be hazardous to your health.
Letters
Be sensitive
I am appalled at and ashamed
of the ignorant behavior some
students continue to show
toward foreignersand
minorities. There are so many
derogatory stereotypes
Americans have of others, it is
embarrassing.
1 will at least give you credit
for knowing what most of them
are. so 1 need not waste time or
space on them. Some of you
can't seem to get that we are not
our government, but people,
people with feelings, and so are
they. .
Do you believe that if you
make an insensitive remark to a
foreign student that they don’t
feel hurt? Most of them are here
to get an education and learn
about American culture. What
exactly do you want them to
think about us? How many of
you feel it is all right to be
stereotyped as rude, obnoxious
and inhumane? Have you
forgotten our ancestors created
this nation to leave behind the
persecution and ignorance they
faced in their own countries?
Where would you be today if
they hadn’t had the
opportunity?
So. next time you are feeling
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the need to be a bigot , instead of
approaching a foreign student
or minority with an insult, take
five minutes to find out they are
just , like you in more ways
than you can imagine. 'And
maybe you can dispel the ig
norant misbeliefs you. have
They are probably more recep
tive to talking to you than you
think.,'
Shawn O'Connor
II of O student
Ignorance
0 I am utterly appalled that Mr.
Jaques has the audacity to
publicly display his ignorance
of the continent of Africa.
Why is Africa a filthy en
vironment. Mr. jaques? Why?
In effect, you are trying to tell us
the entire continent of Africa,
four times the size of the United
States, with 54 different coun
tries and a population of over
455 million is a heap of filth!
SHAME ON YOU.
Mr. jaques should recheck his
source of information — if he
had any — and spare the public
the embarrassment of
misinformation.
I suppose the abominable
disease AIDS could not have
possibly originated in a civiliz
ed Western country; it had to
have started in Africa! The
American "experts" working in
some obscure, remote village in
the jungles of Zaire, using a
village interpreter and having
Letters Policy
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comment on topic* of interest to
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Letter* to the editor must be
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spent six months, come up with
an authoritative report
„ which shows beyond any
shadow of a doubt that AIDS
began in Africa and mysterious
ly spread to the United States
and other parts of" the clean,
civilized, developed world In
cidentally. why are there more
AIDS victims In the United
States than in Africa?
It is very unfortunate that the
American people, through the
media, are daily bombarded
with tons of false material about o
Africa, and worst of all, is they
believe it. • •
It might next be suggested
that obesity, homosexuality,
drug abuse, child abuse, abor
tion and the like had their
origin in Africa.
Morompi Ole-Ronkei
lournalism
Ignored point
The well-documented com
mentary written by Glenn Sacks
(ODE, Dec. 4) was an infor
mative response to the nasty lit
tle diatribes of the Oregon Com
mentator concerning Soviet in
volvement in Afghanistan. Not
surprisingly, it put the Com
mentator's right-wing
ideologues on the defensive,
lames R. Young's responding
commentary (ODE, Dec. 10)
largely ignored Sacks' main
point: The Afghan "freedom
fighters" are not interested in
the establishment of a "free and
democratic society,” but a
semi-feudal Islamic state. Given
the Islamic Jihad's ideological
underpinnings, a “free"
Afghanistan would be more
akin to Iran’s present day
Mullahtocracy. If the unifica
tion of church and state and the
unequivocal denial of women's
rights are the Commentator's
idea of social progress, they
should cut the rhetoric and
simply admit it.
Christian Gunther
U of O student
Friday. December 13, 1985