This past week, my husband and I have enjoyed a week’s vacation in Berlin, Germany. We flew over to spend a week with my cousin, who is working there. From the moment we walked out of the airport, I became concerned about the smoking rate in Germany. As we walked to find a cab, it seemed that at least 50% of everyone we saw was smoking.
And then I began to see the impact of the American Tobacco companies in the neighborhood where we were staying. After arriving at my cousin’s flat last Tuesday, we went to a nearby cafe for lunch. We quickly learned that the Germans love to be outside, even in cold weather. All of the cafes and restaurants provide blankets to put over your legs and /or shoulders. Some even have heaters. But I also noticed that most of the umbrellas on the restaurant patios were compliments of Marlboro.
A couple of evenings later, we were eating in another neighborhood place and I noticed that the aprons all of the wait staff were wearing said: “Ask me about Lucky Strikes”. All of the ashtrays in that establishment had been provided by Lucky Strikes. We mentioned it as we were eating that evening (at least in Germany they do have a smoking ban in restaurants) and my cousin told me to go to the ladies room to see what I might find. Well, I found a cigarette vending machine in the ladies room and postcards advertising Lucky Strikes.
The next evening, we tried yet a third neighborhood restaurant, and what did we find, but all the votive candles on the tables were advertising Philip Morris! So, although tobacco companies are no longer allowed to advertise like that in the US, they are not prohibited from advertising in many other countries around the world.
I watched one evening as a young couple with a son about 7 or 8 enjoyed their dinner at the next table and I couldn’t help but wonder how much of this advertising was impacting this young child. The child was playing with the votive candle on the table and had several of the free postcards in his hands.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty, being adopted, slowly, around the world, outlines the model policies a country should pass to ensure the protection of their youth. If Germany were to adopt the FCTC recommendations, those unmonitored vending machines in the ladies room, sun umbrellas advertising Marlboro, aprons for Lucky Strike and votives for Philip Morris would all be removed.
