Morris and Phil were having their usual after-dinner chat in the boardroom of a large manufacturer of cigarettes.
“Hey, Phil,” Morris said as he pushed a folded newspaper across the table. “Can you believe this?”
“What now?” Phil grumbled. He picked up the newspaper and stared at the headline. He shook his head and thrust the newspaper back towards Morris.
“Come on, Phil. They’ve got us now,” Morris said. “You can see it in the headline. The Supreme Court has given smokers the right to sue us for advertising our low-risk cigarettes. Can you believe that? Our healthiest cigarettes, and they’re up in arms because they don’t like how we’re advertising them.”
“It’s not good news. I agree with you there. But if you look at it closely I think you’ll see that this is a battle over jurisdiction more than a fight to put us out of business.”
“What?”
“Sure, Morris. You see, it’s like this. The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over the tobacco industry. There’s enough advertising freedom in federal laws to run a truckload through any barriers a group of smokers tries to set up.”
“So why this ban?”
“Because one Supreme Court judge was persuaded that they could rule on behalf of the smokers in Maine even though federal law doesn’t approve of that type of control.”
“One judge?”
“Well, the vote was 5 to 4. If one judge had voted ‘no’ instead of ‘yes,’ it would have gone the other way.”
“You don’t think those folks who took us to court want to get rid of us?”
“Morris, people have been trying to get rid of us for years. This ruling hurts, but it won’t put us out of business. Not by a long shot. We’ve got plenty of products, plenty of techniques, and plenty of advertising strategies we can use to pull us through.”
“I’m sure glad you’re part of the team,” Morris said. “Together we’re going to convince more and more people to light up and enjoy the experience.”
“I hope you’re right,” Phil said.
Resources:
Fox News: Supreme Court allows fraud lawsuits in “light” cigarette advertising case
FindLaw: Supreme Court OKs “light” cigarette lawsuits
CNN Money: High Court backs tobacco suit
CNBC: Supreme Court to allow “lights” cigarette cases
