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Denmark: “light” cigarette ad leads to coffin
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The curse of the “light” cigarette myth has been particularly persistent in Denmark, where its pernicious mix of associations with light body weight and perceived low toxin emission levels has been cunningly targeted to women. In one recent ad (bottom right), a woman smoking a Savoy brand “light” cigarette was even seen to feel so light that she could walk out from the shore of a lake on water lilies. (In Christian Denmark, did the art director consciously parody the bible story of Christ walking on the water?) So it is good to think that those who create these wretched ads may have been given cause to re-assess their effectiveness by the response of cartoonist Villumsen in the newspaper Politiken. A woman in a coffin says “I go for light”, playing on the slogan “I go for Prince” used by Denmark's leading women's brand.

Dr Tony Gale receives his tribute from Dr Karen Sealy, Caribbean co-ordinator of the Pan American Health Organisation; Barbados health minister, the Honorable Liz Thompson, left, is holding the medal.

Cartoon by Jørn Villumsen reproduced by kind permission of Bo Maltesen, editor, “Politiken”.