Cars like cigarettes? Already 50 years ago ...
02/27/2020
It's hard to believe, but 50 years ago, according to a report in the Automobil Revue, the following question arose: "Can a television station be forced to tell the public in sound and vision that cars pollute the air and endanger health as part of its usual advertising programs, often paid for by car companies?"
The debate was launched in the US when the Friends of the Earth group made the following claim:
"The television station WNBC-TV "bombards New York area television audiences with advertisements for large-engine cars and high-octane gasoline. These products are portrayed or described as if ... they are both necessary for motorists and in keeping with the needs of modern society (socially responsible) ... Meanwhile, cars pollute the air in cities.
The lead compounds in car gases contribute to air pollution; they are particularly hazardous to health. At the same time, the development of engines whose exhaust fumes are less toxic is being neglected. Air pollution is exacerbated above all by overpowered engines, which in the vast majority of cases are superfluous."
Since only the advantages of large-engined cars and high-octane gasoline are described (according to Friends of the Earth), the broadcaster is guilty of "propagandistic imbalance" in an area that has now become the subject of public controversy.
A presentation of the opposing viewpoint, provided free of charge, was requested. However, WNBC-TV refused to comply with this request.
Friends of the Earth did not want to accept this and announced that they would file a complaint with the FCC ("Federal Communications Commission"). And there was already a precedent-setting case from the tobacco industry that was approved on similar grounds. At the time, it forced television stations to point out the dangers of cigarette smoking after every tobacco advertisement. We are now familiar with such warnings on every cigarette packet and advertising for cigarettes on television and in the print media has long been banned.
However, it didn't get that far in car advertising, which probably had something to do with the fact that the lead content of gasoline was reduced early on in the USA and the exhaust gas quality of cars was improved ...
It would also have been strange to hear the following statements in a car advertisement: "Take a look at this car. Elegant. Fantastic tracking ability. Super powerful engine. No other car pumps so much leaded poison gas into your children's lungs in such a short time."
