[Intl-tobacco] WSJ: Cigarettes Butt In at World Cup Despite Tobacco-Marketing Ban

[Robert Weissman]

Cigarettes Butt In at World Cup Despite Tobacco-Marketing Ban

By CHRISTOPHER LAWTON
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


Five months ago, soccer's governing body declared the 2002 World Cup
tournament tobacco-free. Someone forgot to tell the cigarette companies.

In Malaysia, fans tuning into televised World Cup games are greeted by a
voice-over during the games intoning: "Brought to you by Dunhill" -- British
American Tobacco PLC's upscale cigarette brand. The company, the world's
second-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, is also using print ads to
hype the World Cup broadcasts and running a sweepstakes for free tickets to
see a match live in Japan (the tournament is being co-hosted by Japan and
Korea).

Despite a tobacco free initiative by WHO and FIFA , cigarette makers are
cashing in on World Cup fever.

While the operators of World Cup can keep tobacco products and advertising
out of the stadiums and prevent the manufacturers from using World Cup
logos, they can't tell broadcasters what they can and can't air. Tobacco
companies are banned in the U.S. from airing ads on television, but in some
developing countries cigarette makers face no such restrictions.

Lakson Tobacco Co. Ltd., based in Karachi, Pakistan, has launched an ad
campaign that urges people to enjoy the World Cup "with a Diplomat,"
referring to a brand sold in Pakistan. Lakson Tobacco, in which Philip
Morris Cos. owns a small stake, launched its World Cup efforts in May
with a
sweepstakes contest splashed across Pakistani television. One top prize
is a
model of a soccer field made with gold, says Javaid A. Khan, a pulmonary
specialist and antitobacco advocate at Aga Khan University Hospital in
Karachi. Although the commercials are aired after 9 p.m., Dr. Khan is
concerned that children will see them. "As if all children go to bed before
9," he says. "None of the Pakistani children go to bed before 11."

Remi Calvet, communications director for Philip Morris International, says
Philip Morris doesn't control Lakson's management. "We have absolutely no
advertising campaigns related to the World Cup," says Mr. Calvet, speaking
of Philip Morris's own brands. A representative for Lakson couldn't be
reached.

The flurry of World Cup-related marketing shows how adept tobacco companies
are at delivering their selling message, despite increasingly restrictive
curbs on cigarette marketing around the globe. The quadrennial World Cup is
a potential marketing bonanza too good to resist for many. Multinational
cigarette manufacturers are recording an increasing proportion of their
sales in developing countries. Tobacco makers -- like local broadcasters --
aren't obligated to abide by the stated goals of the Federation
Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA , soccer's global oversight
group.

More than 18 months ago, the World Health Organization, which is the United
Nations' public-health arm, began discussions with Korean officials and FIFA
about the possible combination of its World No Tobacco Day efforts with the
May 31 kickoff of the 2002 World Cup. The soccer organization gave its
blessing.

The memorandum of cooperation calls for FIFA and WHO to severely restrict
tobacco in all game venues in Korea and Japan -- two of the biggest smoking
nations on the planet. Vendors can't sell tobacco products in the stadiums,
and smoking is allowed only in designated areas. In addition, a WHO
tobacco-free logo was included on the major banners carried before the
opening game. There have been antitobacco posters in various stadiums where
the games are played and commercials congratulating FIFA for declaring the
World Cup tobacco-free.

Despite these efforts, tobacco-control advocates say cigarette makers are
using the World Cup to boost sales to young soccer fans. Clive Bates, who
oversees the London office of Action on Smoking and Health, a multinational
antitobacco group based in Washington, D.C., says by sponsoring the 2002
World Cup on Malaysian national television, British American Tobacco is
"misleading" young soccer fans into thinking FIFA promotes tobacco use.

Mr. Bates also says British American Tobacco is violating the spirit of the
International Tobacco Products Marketing Standards Agreement it signed with
Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco International on Sept. 11, 2001 -- a pact
that received scant publicity given the date. The agreement, which among
other things prevents British American Tobacco from advertising on TV,
doesn't go into effect until December 2002. WHO and Action on Smoking and
Health have each rejected the agreement as ineffective.

David Betteridge, a spokesman for British American Tobacco, says Mr. Bates
is right about one thing. "We would tend to agree with WHO and FIFA that
tobacco and football  don't go together," Mr. Betteridge says. Since
the rights to sponsor the 2002 World Cup in Malaysia were bought before both
the marketing agreement and the memorandum of cooperation were signed, Mr.
Betteridge says BAT's Malaysian branch has decided to continue airing ads.
British American Tobacco has committed to pulling all TV ads in Malaysia by
December, in accordance with the marketing pact. The World Cup games
conclude at the end of this month.

While FIFA can ban tobacco-related advertising as well as the sale of
tobacco products in the stadiums where the soccer games are played, it can't
control soccer-related ads that lack a direct link to FIFA or the World Cup.

"This is another example of how the tobacco industry deliberately sets out
to pick on all the good things in life and associate them with tobacco,
which is one of the worst things in life," says Keith Cooper, FIFA
communications director, reached at the World Cup games in Seoul, Korea.

At least one tobacco company has backed off its World Cup efforts
altogether. Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corp., Korea's biggest cigarette maker,
was initially offering smokers "Time 2002" cigarettes covered with
images of
soccer players. The Korean government owns 33% of the Korea Tobacco &
Ginseng. The cigarette packs were viewed as an embarrassment following so
soon after Korea and Japan publicly agreed to sponsor a tobacco-free World
Cup. Korea Tobacco, which couldn't be reached for comment, no longer makes
the packs, although some remain on the shelves.

-- Gabriel Kahn in Seoul contributed to this article.

Write to Christopher Lawton at christopher.lawton@wsj.com