Forest has launched a campaign to promote its No Thank EU initiative, with full-page notices being placed in this week’s issues of the New Statesman (circulation 25,000), The Spectator (63,000) and The Week (194,000).
The group, which is supported by British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Ltd. and Gallaher Ltd. (a member of the Japan Tobacco Group of Companies), is fighting proposed revisions to the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive.
Under the headline, “Hey EU! Stop Intruding,” the notice reads: “Under a new Tobacco Products Directive, the European Union could ban menthol and ‘slim’ cigarettes, outlaw 10-packs, prohibit small pouches of roll-your-own tobacco, and severely restrict the shape and size of cigarette packets.”
And the notice gives five reasons for saying no to the proposals:
1. Have we learned nothing from history? Prohibition doesn’t work.
2. Excessive regulation will deny consumers choice and drive them to the black market.
3. Criminal gangs will make a fortune manufacturing and selling prohibited products.
4. Don’t let the EU impose an extreme regulatory agenda on U.K. consumers.
5. What will they prohibit or over-regulate next? Alcohol, fizzy drinks, convenience food? Enough is enough.
The notice asks those who support “choice, not control” to make their voices heard, in part by visiting NoThank.EU.com.