Best cigarette ad ever
… is from duMaurier, which in spite of its hot red packaging is making a bid to go green.
The new ads (full-page in my local entertainment weekly, The Georgia Straight) read “new look. new approach. we have updated our packaging to help reduce its impact on the environment. small steps make the difference” and then, pointing at a hot red package are two items: “foil is now coloured recyclable paper making it kinder to the environment” and “cardboard packaging that meets standards supporting sustainable forest management”.
Unintentionally hilarious. Only if pot ever gets legalized will we see advertising that is funnier than this.
“Guaranteed to reduce your total lifetime footprint, while also reducing the cost of the Canada Pension Plan.”
It amazes me that we still allow cigarette advertising, knowing what we do know about addiction of kids, the costs to individuals, to the health care system, etc etc.
Of course, the courts here (as elsewhere) have afforded constitutional rights to corporations, including the right to free expression, which includes some advertising.
We need to remove that. Governments can override the Charter using section 33. Apart from some symbolic uses when Quebec was focussed on separatism, it’s never been tried.
Now is the time, and tobacco is the subject.
(And then let’s work on stopping corporations from using the Charter.)
I’m not a lawyer, but I heard that the notwithstanding clause is limited to prohibited grounds for discrimination, like language laws, or (if we wanted) age discrimination for eye exams on driver’s licenses. I’m not sure you can do it with fundamental freedoms like freedom of expression.
Hi Stuart – yep it applies to freedom of expression. http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/#juridiques.
It also applies to the right to “life,” and we should be thinking about getting rid of for-profit corporations in the tobacco supply chain, and replacing them with a business model that will supply tobacco to the market, but not try to promote it or undermine public policy.