Tobacco Coupons Leave a Bitter Taste

With a merry “beep-beep,” my grocery items passed across the scanner at Ralphs in San Clemente. I quickly swiped my credit card and waited for the total, admiring the wonders of electronics that have made punched-in prices and cash handling rare events today.

Another boxlike machine churned in front of me, spewing out a ribbon of paper coupons redeemable only at Ralphs. I haven’t figured out how these machines know so much, but somehow I earn future savings on groceries and they are usually the same items I’ve just purchased.

Not this time.

The red-trimmed coupon spewing out in front of me announced, “Save $1 on 3 packs--Camel Cigarettes--the genuine taste that’s been satisfying for over 80 years.” I was stunned and angered.

Some people will note that cigarette sales are not illegal and that R.J. Reynolds has a perfect right to promote its product in any way that will increase revenue. But having recently witnessed the last choking breaths of a loved one, her face ballooned by cortisone and her very survival dependent on two narrow plastic tubes inserted into her nostrils, I found myself appalled by this new marketing tool of a cigarette giant.

Still gripping the discount coupon, I looked wordlessly toward the grocery clerk, who was busy bagging my purchases. Then I glanced behind me in line, where two bikini-clad teenage girls were unloading chips, sodas and candy--most likely their rations for a day on the beach.

If I had not been ahead of them, would they have been offered the privilege of saving $1 on “the genuine taste that’s been satisfying for over 80 years”?

Come on, RJR, where is your conscience? And Ralphs, is this the image you seek?

Shirley Jordan lives in Fullerton.