CIGARETTE FIRM'S PLAN TO MARKET COFFEE SEEN AS 'CYNICAL PLOY'

A plan by the tobacco company Benson and Hedges to market its own coffee
was yesterday condemned as a "cynical" ploy to circumvent a new Europe-wide
advertising ban.

The idea has already been tried abroad by British American Tobacco, which
markets the brand worldwide, and Benson and Hedges coffee shops have been
operating in Malaysia for two years.

Tim Wilson, spokesman for Woking-based World Investment Company, which is
licensing the Benson and Hedges name for the coffee, yesterday said that
the coffee was being test-marketed in the UK. But he would not reveal where
the coffee was on sale.

He denied suggestions that the coffee was a thinly veiled attempt to
advertise the cigarette brand, commenting: "This is a Benson and Hedges
coffee. Our objective is to develop products of a non-tobacco character."
But Amanda Sandford of ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) condemned the
decision. "This is yet another example of brand-stretching. The tobacco
companies are trying to get their names established in other areas so that
when the ban comes into effect they will still have a profile."

"They are going to argue that they are not promoting tobacco, and this is
another cynical attempt to get round the directive and find a loophole."

The big four UK tobacco companies - British American Tobacco, Gallaher,
Imperial Tobacco and Rothmans - which account for more than 90 per cent of
the A312 billion a year UK cigarette market, are seeking to challenge the
Euro directive banning tobacco advertising, claiming their basic legal
rights have been violated by the ruling.

The directive bans all "commercial communication" and sponsorship which
aims to promote tobacco products or has that effect. By 2006 all tobacco
promotion and sponsorship will have been phased out.

Ms Sandford added: "The idea behind all this is the link between a coffee
break and a cigarette. The two addictive substances are seen to go together
and BAT obviously thinks this is a good way of getting its brand name
across."

Deepak Rawal, spokesman for the Health Education Authority, said: "The
prospect of Benson and Hedges coffee or coffee bars across the country is
disturbing. This is a blatant form of brand-stretching which comes at a
time when tobacco advertising is being banned across the European Union."

"The tobacco companies will try every trick in the book to promote their
brands in the face of the advertising ban. Coffee, with its increasing
appeal to the youth market, is as good a way as any."

All tobacco companies use T-shirts, bags and lighters as advertising
gimmicks. Other international tobacco companies, such as Phillip Morris and
Dunhill, have made the transition to the luxury goods market.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson