9/27-10/3

Reynolds and many other cigarette companies have asked the Supreme Court to hear a ruling made on May 22 that cigarette companies can no longer put "light" and "low-tar" on the names of their cigarettes. The cigarette companies are claiming that it would take millions of dollars and completely change their business tactics if this law were to be put in effect. I agree with both sides of this argument. Putting the word "light" on a pack of cigarettes makes the consumer think that the cigarettes are better for you, which isn't true at all. However, switching the names of cigarettes would not only cost a lot of money, but also make the consumer switch the name of the cigarettes that he or she has been smoking, causing confusion. I don't like this law and I hope that the cigarette companies can win this fight to overturn it.

On Thursday, the FDA began collecting millions of dollars in fees from the cigarette tobacco companies. These fees will go to the new Center for Tobacco Products, a part of the FDA that will be overlooking the cigarette industry. This industry is what has been in charge of stopping the selling of flavored cigarettes and putting restrictions on the term "light" used in cigarettes. These millions of dollars in fees are affecting many cigarette companies, but Altria, who owns Phillip Morris USA, most of all. Altria will be responsible for paying over half of the fees to the government. These fees are starting out at around $23 million, but will grow to $712 million by 2019. These fees are going to kill the growth of the cigarette industry. The only hope we have are that the changes that the FDA makes will cause more people to begin smoking, but most likely that isn't going to happen. I can't see how anything good can come from this in terms of a marketing aspect.