Saudi says NO to SR500m deal for tobacco ads

[islamirama]

MBC rejects SR500m deal for tobacco ads
Saeed Al-Khotani | Arab News

RIYADH: The Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) — the region’s biggest and most popular television network — has made a decision to not telecast tobacco advertisements worth SR500 million, Health Minister Hamad Al-Manie said yesterday.

The minister, who was speaking at a press conference at the Health Ministry, said the decision to ban cigarette commercials on all MBC channels was conveyed to him by MBC Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim over the weekend.

Al-Ibrahim said tobacco companies tried to talk him out of the decision and offered to pay more money. “No matter what you do, I will not rescind my decision. No cigarette commercials will be broadcast on the MBC,” Al-Ibrahim told the companies.

Al-Manie said the MBC chairman reaffirmed the television network’s solidarity with the Health Ministry in its campaign against smoking. Al-Manie lauded MBC’s decision, adding that stamping out smoking is not only a religious duty but also a patriotic and humanitarian one.

He said his ministry spends about SR8 billion every year on campaigning against smoking and treating those who suffer from smoke-related illnesses.

“Our campaign against smoking will continue unabated, especially among children and young people who are targeted by cigarette companies,” he said, adding that the campaign against tobacco is not temporary but an everlasting one. Al-Manie said the ministry would launch a TV channel, named “Health,” this month to boost its campaign against smoking.

He said the ministry would persist in its lawsuits against tobacco companies, which he said are responsible for harming the health of hundreds of thousands of Saudi citizens.

He described SR127-billion compensation demanded by the ministry from tobacco companies as a realistic amount meticulously estimated by the ministry’s Legal Affairs Department. “The Saudi is no less important than the American for whom the tobacco companies in the US decided to pay an amount of $250 billion,” he said.

The minister called on agents representing tobacco companies in the Kingdom to stop importing cigarettes. “Agents import cigarettes and medicines at the same time. I tell them that you cannot do virtue and evil at once. They have to choose between good and bad,” he said, reiterating that his ministry would leave no stone unturned to improve public health standards.

http://arabnews.com/?page=1&section=...=9&m=11&y=2008

[The_Prince]

this is something nice, but this wont stop people from going out there and smoking, even with all the anti-tobacco ads etc etc ppl will still go out there and smoke, this is something u have to fix from the familly itself. many teens start smoking because they see their fathers doing it, so they get it from that they wanna start smoking too. and if their fathers arent smokers well they just get it from society and friends etc its just cool to smoke.

[crayon]

this is something nice, but this wont stop people from going out there and smoking, even with all the anti-tobacco ads etc etc ppl will still go out there and smoke, this is something u have to fix from the familly itself. many teens start smoking because they see their fathers doing it, so they get it from that they wanna start smoking too. and if their fathers arent smokers well they just get it from society and friends etc its just cool to smoke.

If someone is set on smoking, they'll smoke, but that doesn't mean that these ads, or the banning of them, will have no effect. Tobacco ads might not consciously influence people into wanting to smoke, but they do subconsciously, hence tobacco companies wanting to pay 50 million riyals + to get them out into the public.