Coles blocks fag displays
4/7/2005 Tasmania, Australia Claire Konkes The Mercury State News COLES supermarkets in Tasmania have become the first major stores in the country to end cigarette promotion by covering cigarette displays. This week's move comes as quit-smoking campaigners say a confronting picture on cigarette displays is working. Other Tasmanian stores have taken cigarettes off display after it became mandatory for Tasmanian retailers to display the graphic poster of mouth cancer last year. Coles Myer -- Australia's biggest retailer -- is the first large company to voluntarily cover cigarette displays with plastic or cardboard blockers. QUIT Tasmania executive director Michael Wilson said the response to the cancerous mouth poster was extraordinary. "This is a forerunner to the response of putting the picture on the packets," he said. "We are going to be extremely busy as people start to quit." Smoke Free Tasmania convener Kathy Barnsley said the "yucky picture" of a man's mouth riddled with cancer was having an effect. But she said the perception of cigarettes as "tacky", personal choice and an attraction to thieves also had contributed to the move away from displays. Ms Barnsley commended Coles for showing "outstanding corporate governance" by taking cigarettes out of sight. With most smokers already addicted to their favourite brand, moving tobacco out of sight would mean children were not constantly exposed to advertising and displays, she said. Coles Myer corporate communications manager Caroline Lawrey said the decision was the best solution to the dilemma of offering adults the choice to smoke but [...]