Cigarette Advertising

Persuasive Essay # 101667

Advertising > Tobacco
Ethics
Philosophy

This paper explores the issue of cigarette advertising from a normative ethical perspective.

1,443 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the complex ethical questions involved in the debate over limiting the power of cigarette manufacturers to advertise. The paper explains that while limiting advertising can be justified from a utilitarian perspective, from a Kantian perspective of rights, such a limitation presents grave implications for the future of our society. The paper argues that a normative approach to this issue would be to recognize the importance of "rule utilitarianism" as opposed to pure utilitarianism as the key determinant of government action.

From the Paper:

"The current situation would suggest that there is a clear and present for governments to take action given the need to protect the public interest, together with the need to counteract the resources available to the tobacco industry to sell their product. Indeed, the history of cigarette advertising is such that it would seem this argument is almost unquestionable. For example, this industry has a long history of using advertising to appeal to young people and the public at large by covertly covering up the effects of tobacco. Following following the end of World War II, the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. boasted that "More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette" (Waxman). This advertising claim carried the clear implication that the medical community as a whole endorses "Camels" cigarettes. While no tobacco company would dare to make such a statement today, that does not stop the industry from trying to make smoking appear cool to teenagers."

Sample of Sources Used:

Burns, John F. "Canada Passes Law to Ban Tobacco Ads and Curb Smoking." The New York Times. June 30, 1988. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=940DE3DD1739F933A05755C0A96E948260
Dwyer, John. "Ethical Paradigms and Theories." In Course Reader:Foundations of Business and Society. Ed. John Dwyer. Toronto: York University, 2007, 151-180.
Manfredi, Christopher. "Expressive Freedom and Tobacco Advertising: A Canadian Perspective." American JournalOf Public Health. 93.3 (2002), 360-362.
Munroe, Susan. "No More Mild Cigarettes in Canada. Canada Online. August 23, 2001. http://canadaonline.about.com/od/quitsmoking/a/mildcigarettes.htm
Waxman, Henry A. "Tobacco Marketing Profiteering from Children." The Journal of the American Medical Association. December 11, 1991. http://www.house.gov/waxman/news_files/news_articles_Tobacco_porfiteering_12_11_91.htm