ASH press release

Sunday 9 September 2001

BAT uses covert web site to push cigs toclubbers - ASH responds with ‘alternative and truthful' site

BritishAmerican Tobacco has set up a web site to give listing of bars, clubs andnightlife with the real - but hidden purpose - of selling cigarettes.  The web site is www.citygobo.com and currently covers Poland and Belgium,with plans to go further.

A memoleaked to ASH [1] shows that inside BAT this is known as ‘ProjectHoreca' - a 2.5 million pound effort to boost sales of BAT's cigarette brandsin entertainment venues, while helping to escape advertising restrictions.   The memo shows that BAT feared that theplan would not work if its target audience - young people- knew that acigarette company was behind it.  CliveBates, Director of ASH, said:

“The idea is to persuade young people to visitcertain featured venues and then hit them with a barrage of promotionalactivity. At the same time they want to pitch to entertainment businesses tohave them buy in to BAT's branded supplies, like ashtrays, beer mats, furnitureand so on.

“It's sleazy old tobacco executives trying flogfags by getting themselves into youth culture.   This site deliberately deceives its users by pretending to be animpartial account of what is going on, while actually being an elaboratecigarette promotion.”

ASHdoes not take such tobacco industry mendacity lying down.  We have set up www.citygobo2.com to tell the truth about the BAT project(see this site for full details of the project).  We are working to ensure that it will come up on the same websearches that hit on Citygobo. Clive Bates said:

“They're dealing with streetwise people whojust don't like being lied to and manipulated by slimy marketing tricks.

“One good thing about the web, is that youdon't need a huge media spend to get your point over.  If we had to buy billboards or newspaper ads to warn about BAT'sduplicity, we wouldn't be able to afford it. I suppose the web helps the little guy go global too.”

“BAT should to identify itself as the owner ofthe site and to explain what it is up to so that users can judge forthemselves.

[1] See memo at http://www.ash.org.uk/html/press/010909.html

For more information see story in today's Independent on Sundayand www.citygobo2.com

Contact Clive Bates: 020 7739 5902 (office) 0776879 1237 (mobile).  ISDN Available.

Memo leaked to ASH