[Intl-tobacco] Israel: Complaint Filed Against Importers for Ad Violations (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Tuesday, March 14 2000 
Jerusalem Post

Clalit files complaint against cigarette
 importers
 By Judy Siegel

 (March 14) - Clalit Health Services has filed a complaint
 with the Israel Police against the importers of Marlboro,
 Pall Mall, Kent, and Magnum cigarettes for advertising
 gimmicks it says are a serious violation of the 1983 law
 restricting tobacco advertising. The importers are likely to
 be questioned and could be arrested. 

 In an effort to promote cigarette sales, the importers are
 holding sweepstakes with such prizes as a recreational
 vehicle and a flight to Las Vegas. The Marlboro ads invite
 people to send in two empty cigarette packs or to call a
 Telemesser number to join the lottery, which Clalit
 lawyers say is a violation of the 1983 law making
 marketing tobacco products by offering a chance to
 participate in a lottery illegal. 

 Smokers can participate in Philip Morris's lottery by
 sending in empty Magnum cigarette packs, while the
 importers of Pall Mall and Kent commissioned four pages
 of advertising in newspapers and provided readers with a
 cardboard cutout of a cigarette packet to be folded to
 look like a real one. In the latter, the Health Ministry
 warning about the health risks of smoking that must by
 law cover 5 percent of each page was printed on the last
 page only, thus violating the law. 

 The penalty is a fine totalling four times the monetary
 benefit of the advertising - a very substantial sum, since
 many thousands of smokers are participating in the
 lotteries and other gimmicks. 

 The Clalit Health Fund has taken an activist approach
 against smoking, and is already involved in a NIS 7.6
 billion lawsuit against cigarette manufacturers here and
 abroad as compensation for the medical services it
 provides to smokers who contracted cancer, heart
 disease, respiratory diseases, and other disorders.