Brand Stretching in the UK (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

The Guardian
Tuesday October 6, 1998 
Cigarette firm's plan to market coffee seen as 'cynical ploy' 

'The idea behind all this is the link between a coffee break and a
cigarette. The two substances are seen to go
together' 

By Amelia Gentleman

A plan by the tobacco company Benson and Hedges to market its own coffee was
yesterday condemned as a "cynical" ploy
to circumvent a new Europe-wide advertising ban. 

The idea has already been tried abroad by British American Tobacco, which
markets the brand worldwide, and Benson and
Hedges coffee shops have been operating in Malaysia for two years.

Tim Wilson, spokesman for Woking-based World Investment Company, which is
licensing the Benson and Hedges name for
the coffee, yesterday said that the coffee was being test-marketed in the
UK. But he would not reveal where the coffee was
on sale.

He denied suggestions that the coffee was a thinly veiled attempt to
advertise the cigarette brand, commenting: "This is a
Benson and Hedges coffee. Our objective is to develop products of a
non-tobacco character." But Amanda Sandford of
ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) condemned the decision. "This is yet
another example of brand-stretching. The
tobacco companies are trying to get their names established in other areas
so that when the ban comes into effect they will still
have a profile."

"They are going to argue that they are not promoting tobacco, and this is
another cynical attempt to get round the directive
and find a loophole."

The big four UK tobacco companies - British American Tobacco, Gallaher,
Imperial Tobacco and Rothmans - which
account for more than 90 per cent of the £12 billion a year UK cigarette
market, are seeking to challenge the Euro directive
banning tobacco advertising, claiming their basic legal rights have been
violated by the ruling.

The directive bans all "commercial communication" and sponsorship which aims
to promote tobacco products or has that
effect. By 2006 all tobacco promotion and sponsorship will have been phased out.

Ms Sandford added: "The idea behind all this is the link between a coffee
break and a cigarette. The two addictive substances
are seen to go together and BAT obviously thinks this is a good way of
getting its brand name across."

Deepak Rawal, spokesman for the Health Education Authority, said: "The
prospect of Benson and Hedges coffee or coffee
bars across the country is disturbing. This is a blatant form of
brand-stretching which comes at a time when tobacco
advertising is being banned across the European Union."

"The tobacco companies will try every trick in the book to promote their
brands in the face of the advertising ban. Coffee,
with its increasing appeal to the youth market, is as good a way as any."

All tobacco companies use T-shirts, bags and lighters as advertising
gimmicks. Other international tobacco companies, such
as Phillip Morris and Dunhill, have made the transition to the luxury goods
market.

 
© Copyright Guardian Media Group plc.1998