Stampa

MARLBORO LIGHTS CIGARETTES


PRESS RELEASE



PRESS RELEASE
THE WORD "LIGHTS" PRINTED ON MARLBORO LIGHTS CIGARETTE PACKETS IS MISLEADING BECAUSE IT INDUCES CONSUMERS TO CONSIDER LIGHT CIGARETTES TO BE LESS HARMFUL


At its meeting on 12 September 2002, the Competition Authority resolved that the word "lights" printed on packets of Philip Morris Marlboro lights cigarettes constitutes misleading advertising.

The resolution was issued at the outcome of an investigation that began as a result of a complaint by a consumers' association, claiming the word "Lights" on packets of Marlboro Lights cigarettes to be misleading because it would cause consumers, wrongly, to believe that the product was less harmful and less dangerous to health than so-called normal cigarettes.

In the course of the investigation the Authority deemed it necessary to ascertain how consumers decoded the word "light" printed on the cigarette packets, and commissioned two surveys to different polling companies, both of which showed that a substantial proportion of the sample of consumers interviewed associated the word "lights" with the idea that the product was less dangerous to health.

In its assessment, the Authority also drew on the results of the scientific debate and research available internationally, which showed that the so-called "light" cigarettes may not be deemed less dangerous to health than the so-called normal or full flavour cigarettes.

On the basis of the foregoing, it ruled that light cigarettes cannot be considered less dangerous to health than normal cigarettes, and resolved that the word printed on the Marlboro lights cigarette packet was likely to mislead consumers regarding the real characteristics of the products, and therefore constituted misleading advertising.

The Authority also took account of the fact that, in the meantime, the Community Directive no. 2001/37/EC had been adopted requiring the words "light", "mild" and similar terms to be removed from cigarette packets as from 30 September 2003, because they were likely to mislead consumers by creating the false impression that such products were less harmful. The manufacturers therefore have one year in which to remove the word "lights" from the cigarette packets.

Rome, 28 September 2002