Plain packaging? They must be crackers!
Friday, November 30, 2012 at 8:24
Simon Clark

This advertisement appears in the latest issue of The House magazine, published today.

The new edition features what is a described as a "very emotive dialogue between Stephen Williams MP and Ian Paisley MP around plain packaging".

Williams, of course, helped launch the Plain Packs Protect campaign. He is also chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health that last month tried to smear Forest with an allegation of petition "rigging".

Paisley is the author of a recent letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, signed by 72 MPs, that urged the government to abandon the idea of plain packaging.

Publishers Dods say 85 per cent of MPs read The House. I've always been sceptical about this claim because it's not the most exciting publication but you've got to be in it to win it, as they say.

In June Imperial Tobacco placed this ad in The House. It was actually a cover wrap and it caused quite a stir.

Dods also own PoliticsHome and next week they will be running a banner ad with a link to the Hands Off Our Packs website.

Subscribers to PoliticsHome include "MPs, peers, key opinion leaders, parliamentary researchers, lobbyists, political media, broadcast media and business leaders".

PS. To download the Forest/HOOP advertisement click here.

Article originally appeared on Simon Clark (http://taking-liberties.squarespace.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.