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Winston Fletcher is the star of a video mailed this week to all

members of the House of Commons and the Lords by the Tobacco

Manufacturers Association in protest at the Government’s plans to ban

tobacco advertising and sponsorship.

Fletcher’s stature as an industry figurehead is used to lend credibility

to the campaign.

The eight-minute video, entitled ’I’ve made up my mind ...’, attempts to

dispel some of the myths surrounding tobacco advertising and forms part

of a concerted campaign by the TMA.

The TMA is concerned that the Government has announced its plans without

seeking consultation with the tobacco industry. Repeated requests for

talks with Frank Dobson, the secretary of state for health, and Tessa

Jowell, the minister for public health, have been ignored. As a result,

the TMA has decided to appeal direct to MPs.

The video targets four myths which, the TMA believes, lie behind the

Government’s determination to ban tobacco advertising. They are: that

advertising increases consumption; that advertising causes children to

start smoking; that the voluntary code doesn’t work; and that a ban will

reduce consumption.

In the video, Fletcher, the chairman of Bozell UK Holdings and a former

president of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and chairman

of the Advertising Association, says: ’The simple fact is that

advertising does not persuade children to start smoking.’ He adds: ’You

will not have seen an ad that infringes the rules (the voluntary code)

for as long as you can remember.’

Perspective, page 12.