Walk into any convenience store or gas station inthe U.S., and chances are the cigarettes will be in the same spot: at eyelevel, right behind the cash register.
That's no coincidence. Tobacco companies have worked hard,and paid well, to ensure that cigarette displays occupy the retail equivalentof prime real estate. In 2010 alone, the industry made $370 million in paymentsto retailers to help lock down prime shelving space, according to a report lastyear by the Federal Trade Commission.
"Every consumer-product goods manufacturer in thecountry wants to be there," said Kurt M. Ribisl, a professor at theUniversity of North Carolina who studies tobacco marketing. "People makingchips and Doritos and Pepsi — all of these companies want that space. But thetobacco industry wins."
Now New York City, one of the nation's biggest cigarettemarkets, wants to put the cigarettes out of sight.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a bill this week that wouldforce retailers to keep cigarettes out of public view until a customer asks fora pack.
A second bill would take aim at the system of discounts andincentives that manufacturers have long used to attract customers.
It is too early to tell whether either measure will survivethe legislative process or an almost-certain court challenge. Tobacco companiesand convenience store owners have attacked both proposals as unfair and perhapsunconstitutional.
Even more unclear is whether the policy would lead to fewerpeople smoking.
A number of countries, including Ireland, Canada andAustralia, have restricted retail tobacco displays, but most experts say thepolicies haven't been in place long enough to know whether they have had astrong impact.
Big immediate drops in sales are unlikely, said Ribisl, whofavors tighter restrictions on tobacco marketing. But he predicted that thedisplay rules might lead to a modest reduction in smoking rates over time.
"When you stop discounting and multipack specials, youare now thwarting the tobacco industry's ability to prey on low-incomesmokers," Ribisl said.
Scientists at the nonprofit research firm RTI Internationalrecently published the results of an experiment in which they had 1,200 youngpeople take virtual shopping trips through computerized convenience stories. Itfound that kids were less likely to make fantasy purchases of cigarettes in shopswhere tobacco products were hidden in cabinets.
It is hard to say whether that type of simulation wouldrepeat itself in real life, said Annice Kim, a social scientist who wasinvolved in the project. But she said that one theory is that simply making a productless visible makes people less likely to make an impulse buy.
City health officials have said that obscuring cigarettes atthe point of sale might lead to fewer impulse buys by addicts trying to quit.That logic appealed to smoker Demian Menezes, 37, who said the visibility ofpacks at stores was indeed a temptation during a two-year period when he quit.
"You always have that 'Oh, my God — it's rightthere'... 'Pick me! Buy me! Smoke me!'" feeling, he said.
Opponents of the measure say it will only hassle smokersunnecessarily and make things more difficult for small businesses.
"It puts a lot of question marks on how yousell one of your major categories," said Jeff Lenard, a vice president atthe National Association of Convenience Stores. "It's not an easy time tobe in business right now."