Tobacco companies aren’t allowed to advertise, but they say that any publicity is good publicity (I beg to differ). In the case of tobacco companies and a recent New Zealand Herald article, it may actually be true.

Did tobacco companies trick the media? The use of the headline and sexy photo send a strong commercial message...

Smoking used to be considered sexy. A recent New Zealand Herald article did a job better than any advertisement I’ve ever seen… it featured a sexy model smoking, and promised a benefit… tobacco helps you lose weight!

The article reports that tobacco companies put weight loss chemicals into tobacco up to 1999 – but is that enough to kill the impact of this very powerful, upfront commercial message?

All the benefits are delivered in the headline, the photo and the first paragraph – who needs to read more? And if you do read further, there appears to be scientific evidence to back it up, and a subtle warning that if you quit you will put on weight.

This article – from the INDEPENDENT – adopts a ‘critical tone’ but seriously, if you want to look sexy and keep your weight down, how much attention are you going to pay this ‘holier-than-thou’ tone anyway?

Tobacco companies aren’t allowed to advertise and any media they come in for is going to be bad media, but one has to wonder if some very clever PR people haven’t found a way to exploit this ‘negative’ publicity?

On the evidence of that article... what do you think?