Apparently there was
zero studies/polling done in the late 70’s... back when teachers could smoke during class, schools had smoking lounges for students and other stuff was smoked at home because parents couldn’t smell it over the haze from their unfiltered camels. BT is getting more desperate by the moment ...
Personally, I find the whole thing laughable if it wasn't so tragic. BT, in collusion with Government, has had a great ride off the amount of taxation raised through tobacco. In the UK now, it is probably somewhere between 5-10% of the packet price on the high street that actually goes to BT and the distribution chain.
My chemistry teacher used to smoke Camels after lessons, we didn't have a smoking room for students. The only punishment for smoking if you got caught was a dose of the taws, a heavy leather strap whacked across your open palms. Not that that mattered, being a bit of a rebel was part of the mystique and romantic appeal of cigarettes.
There is still a part of my brain that refuses to categorise that teacher as a bad influence, he was a cool guy and treated us all with respect, amongst one of the best teachers I ever had. I got an A+ in my Chemistry, partly through his efforts.
BT is very much based on a high turnover / small profit margin sales model. They need to focus on working with their customers / hostages if they are to survive long term as an industry. Every 10% of their market share that jumps ship to
vaping hurts them bad. Emerging markets won't save them, as the health risks are too clearly defined to ignore them.
I can see them strongly lobbying for a controlling hand in the market for "other stuff". Fighting against vaping is stupidity on their part, especially in the UK where the government has taken a very anti-tobacco/pro-vaping stance, despite the EU TPD madness.
If they came out with a decent product, ate some humble pie and marketed it with the same enthusiasm as they hit the TV/Cinema/Internet screens in the 50/60/70's, they might have a chance.
All said though, I think government has much more blood on their hands than BT ever will.
I might still be suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but certainly the UK taxman has benefited much more from tobacco sales that BT has.
