US district judge Gladys Kessler has ordered the world’s largest tobacco companies to pay for a two-year, national US advertising campaign to apologize for lying about smoking’s health risks, and for perverting the science on the issue.
Kessler’s ruling on Tuesday, which the companies could try to appeal against, aims to finalise the wording of five different statements the companies will be required to use.
One of them begins: “A federal court has ruled that the defendant tobacco companies deliberately deceived the American public by falsely selling and advertising low tar and light cigarettes as less harmful than regular cigarettes.”
Another statement includes the wording: “Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. Every day.”
Tobacco companies ordered to admit they lied over smoking danger [Reuters/Guardian]