Tobacco And Tobacco Case Study

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In 2001, the Government of India announced that it would ban the advertisement of tobacco and tobacco products including cigarettes. The ban also included a ban on the tobacco industry 's sponsorship of athletic events. As can be imagined, this began a firestorm revolving around the ethics of the decision and whether the new ban could conceivably even be implemented.
The main questions presented are (1) to what extent does the government have an ethical obligation to protect its citizens from their own bad choices; and (2) how does a government balance its ethical obligations against its commercial obligations. This led to a big split between those that believe that the government 's primary concern should be the protection of its citizens …show more content…

R.J. Reynolds used an animated camel named Joe the Camel to sell Camel cigarettes. The use of the animated camel was seen as way to entice children to smoke cigarettes. Thirdly, it was shown that there is a positive impact to revenue collection as the contribution of excise taxes is smaller than the health costs associated with the caring of those adversely affected by tobacco use. Lastly, a reduction in smoking increased employment as people used the money saved from purchasing tobacco to purchase other products resulting in an increase of jobs for the manufacture of other …show more content…

Did the government have a right to save tobacco users from themselves? Additionally, the opponents characterized the government’s actions as acting like a nanny. The tobacco industry argues that their advertisement is solely for the purpose of educating the public about the differences in the brands so consumers could make educated and informed choices. Opponents also point to a survey conducted by the Indian Market Research Bureau where respondents stated they began smoking for reasons other than advertising. Additionally, opponents cite to research studies that found weak correlations between advertising and tobacco use. Furthermore, there was an increase in tobacco use in Finland following a ban on tobacco

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