USA Today Op-Ed by Mary Assunta

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

USA Today
05/18/98

                 Cigarette companies prey on Asia's young

                 By Mary Assunta

                 There's plenty of fanfare in this country over tobacco
regulation through
                 a plan sometimes billed as a "global settlement." Yet
when it comes to
                 smoking, America is not the world. 

                 American smokers make up only 4% of the global tobacco
market. 
                 Add the other 96% and you get an epidemic of
tobacco-related illness
                 that may in time kill half a billion of the people on
Earth today, the
                 World Health Organization says. 

                 America is closely tied to global smoking, though:
American tobacco
                 companies are stepping up their already aggressive
promotional efforts
                 in order to hook more young people in my country,
Malaysia, in
                 neighboring Cambodia and Thailand, and elsewhere
overseas. For
                 example, Philip Morris' advertising spending outside the
United States
                 has increased 72% since 1990. In Malaysia, where 60% of
adult males
                 smoke, foreign multi-nationals such as Philip Morris and
RJR Nabisco
                 control nearly 90% of the tobacco market. 

                 Inside the United States, tobacco corporations face
declining sales and
                 well-organized pressure. Meanwhile, at the Philip Morris
annual
                 meeting last month, shareholders applauded CEO Geoffrey
Bible's
                 report of skyrocketing 1997 overseas sales and rejected
proposals to
                 restrict their cigarette marketing abroad. 

                 Cigarette, concerts, clothes

                 Here's how the marketing is done in Malaysia. Direct
cigarette
                 advertising - say, with billboards - is banned. Yet the
companies
                 manage to be the largest promotional spenders in the
country,
                 accounting for some 25% of total advertising and 43% of
sponsorship
                 on the state-owned broadcasting network. 

                 They do this through "brand stretching," linking their
logos to travel
                 agencies, rock concerts, sports clothing and the like. 
Malaysia has
                 become a testing ground for these new tactics, which work
to
                 circumvent cigarette restrictions across Asia, Latin
America and
                 Europe. 

                 Cigarette logos are ubiquitous in Malaysia. The
paraphernalia of
                 Marlboro, the world's No. 1 cigarette, is especially
fashionable among
                 Malaysian children. At a recent quit-smoking workshop
which I ran for
                 about 25 14-year-old boys, three owned Marlboro T-shirts,
four
                 owned Marlboro caps and six had lighters. Almost all had
stickers for
                 the brand. 

                 Kids' parties and stickers

                 Meanwhile, RJR Nabisco promotes its "Salem Power Station"
music
                 shop and "Salem Cool Planet" rock concerts. RJR also
organizes disco
                 parties, for which free tickets can be won by displaying
free Salem
                 stickers creatively on one's car. 

                 RJR sponsors sporting events and television programs,
such as
                 "Winston World of Action" and "Camel Trophy" off-road
adventure
                 races. Trademark clothing, such as Camel Adventure Gear
and
                 Marlboro Classic, is inescapable. And international
magazines such as
                 Time and Newsweek are free to carry prominent cigarette
ads - with
                 no health warnings. 

                 Granted, the Malaysian tobacco lobby did kick in $280,000
for a
                 modest youth tobacco-use-prevention campaign in 1997,
timed to
                 coincide with the U.S. tobacco settlement debate in order
to fend off
                 charges about tobacco-company practices overseas. 

                 Tobacco corporations always argue that they don't break
the law. Yet
                 in Malaysia, no health warnings appear in the company
ads, and
                 cigarettes are higher in tar and nicotine. Why do they
obey a law in the
                 U.S. they readily break in our country? 

                 Tobacco legislation before the U.S. Congress fails to
address
                 adequately the tobacco corporations' behavior outside the
U.S. What's
                 more, the cigarette companies aggressively support laws
that make their
                 foreign trading and investments easier. 

                 Besides the immorality of it, the U.S. continues to
ignore the global
                 abuses of its tobacco corporations overseas, how long
will it be before
                 the techniques they perfect abroad in countries like
Malaysia are
                 reimported to the U.S.? Loopholes in proposed U.S.
tobacco
                 legislation could set the stage for a Joe Camel comeback
through
                 "brand stretching." Unless the U.S. acts to restrain
global aggression by
                 U.S. tobacco corporations, Malaysia's high addiction
levels could be
                 America's wave of the future. 

                 Mary Assunta is the co-author of Global Aggression, a
report on the
                 activities of U.S. cigarette companies by Boston-based
corporate
                 watchdog INFACT. 


                        ©COPYRIGHT 1998 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co.
Inc. 


USA Today did not mention, but it is the case, that Mary works on tobacco
issues with the Consumers Association of Penang, in Malaysia. She can be
reached by e-mail at: assunta@cap.po.my