Action on Consumer Choice: another voice consumers can call their own
Thursday, November 6, 2014 at 16:55 The party on Tuesday night was primarily to mark Forest's 35th anniversary.
Apart from a few nods in the direction of my predecessors however there was no time for nostalgia.
Forest@35 was about the future, hence the unveiling of our new campaign, Action on Consumer Choice.
It was what marketing people call a 'soft' launch. No hullabaloo, no million dollar promotion. We simply handed out flyers and announced the imminent launch of a dedicated website.
Quite underwhelming, really.
ACC will address issues concerning food, drink and smokeless tobacco so whether it's sugar, alcohol or e-cigarettes we intend to be on the case, fighting the nanny state on behalf of the consumer.
The promotional flyer reads:
The smokers' lobby group Forest was founded in 1979 by Battle of Britain fighter pilot Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, a lifelong pipe smoker.
Increasingly the freedom to smoke in any public place has been eroded to the extent that public health campaigners are now calling for a ban on smoking in open air public parks. A once benign nanny state has become a bully state, coercing rather than educating adults to give up smoking.
Today the public health industry is targeting other products such as alcohol, sugary drinks and convenience food. Even e-cigarettes, a potential harm reduction product, are threatened with excessive restrictions including bans on vaping in public places.
For 35 years Forest has been the "voice and friend of the smoker". Action on Consumer Choice will embrace food, drink and smokeless tobacco including e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery products.
Consumers who want choice, are prepared to defend personal responsibility and act with consideration for others now have another voice they can call their own.
With luck the campaign will develop legs (without impacting on Forest) but I've been here before so it would be rash to make predictions. Unlike fake charities like ASH we don't have a well of (public) money to dip in to when it suits us.
Meanwhile let me draw your attention to a post on the Forest website. It's the short speech given by Elise Rasmussen, publisher of Tobacco Reporter and director of Global Tobacco Network Forum (GTNF), at Boisdale on Tuesday.
I've known Elise for six years. We first met at another Forest event and I was delighted when she agreed to say a few words. She even flew home early from America to attend Tuesday's event.
Here's the full speech. Don't worry, it's quite short:
Tobacco publisher calls for more groups like Forest "to support smokers and vapers' rights"
Reader Comments (3)
Action on Consumer choice is not for smokers but just for vapers?
Smokers and vapers, Pat, but I imagine there will be more about vaping because the aim is not to duplicate Forest's work on smoking but to complement it.
Ah, I see. Same old, same old. At least you can win battles for vapers while we second class consumers slink away to the background as per usual.