Spot Me Some Coin
I don't know how much money the cigarette companies make. I have a sneaking suspicion it is in on par with what our good friends the Oil Mafia make. As a side note, oil companies just reported record profits again. Fantastic.
What made me ponder cigarette profits was a little article in the paper this morning. It seems as though smoking will now contribute to the rating of a movie. Too much gratuitous smoking? Could result in a harder rating.
Which raises the question...If something is so bad for people that it receives numerous sanctions, at what point do we just cut bait and stop selling cigarettes to people? Honestly. They have to put a huge warning label on their product. They are taxed astronomically. They have to pay for anti-cigarette advertising. They are restricted in terms of where and when they can advertise to promote their products. They have been sued like crazy over the past decade.
Is there any other industry that could deal with these road blocks and still come out with a profitable product? The only assumption I can make is that the cig CEO's have Scrooge McDuck type money bins filled with all types of currency. Not only that, but they still have to be earning cash by the bucket load, or else why bother? That's pretty lucky. It's also lucky that their money obviously compels lawmakers to offer up moves that nibble at the edges of the problem without really landing a powerful death blow. Cash Rules Everything Around Me.
Fair Dinkum
What made me ponder cigarette profits was a little article in the paper this morning. It seems as though smoking will now contribute to the rating of a movie. Too much gratuitous smoking? Could result in a harder rating.
Which raises the question...If something is so bad for people that it receives numerous sanctions, at what point do we just cut bait and stop selling cigarettes to people? Honestly. They have to put a huge warning label on their product. They are taxed astronomically. They have to pay for anti-cigarette advertising. They are restricted in terms of where and when they can advertise to promote their products. They have been sued like crazy over the past decade.
Is there any other industry that could deal with these road blocks and still come out with a profitable product? The only assumption I can make is that the cig CEO's have Scrooge McDuck type money bins filled with all types of currency. Not only that, but they still have to be earning cash by the bucket load, or else why bother? That's pretty lucky. It's also lucky that their money obviously compels lawmakers to offer up moves that nibble at the edges of the problem without really landing a powerful death blow. Cash Rules Everything Around Me.
Fair Dinkum