PR Week Echo Columns

The introduction of the smoking ban last weekend provided a news hook for many PRs, not just the inevitable health campaigners, pro-choice spokespeople, and pub trade associations, but also for analysts, insurance companies, and the NHS. With pretty much everyone having something to say, headlines reflected the plethora of views: "Diehard smokers ready to fight ban" (Sky News, 2/7), "The last gasp for smokers" (Daily Express, 2/7), "Smokers choke on 'injustice' as ban starts" (Independent, 2/7), "Consigned to the ashtray of history" (Guardian, 1/7). Even the Abbey bank got in on the act, predicting an increase in domestic fires as smokers stay at home instead of going to the pub: "More fires without a smoke" (citywire.co.uk, 1/7).

Some key messages emerged from the fug. Landlord-led Freedom2Choose challenged the ban on human rights grounds, while Forest denied any evidence of "the dangers of passive smoking" (Guardian, 1/7), and thus no need for the ban. These were counterbalanced by health campaigners, who predicted that 500,000 deaths would be prevented, and the ban would encourage people to stop smoking. With councils promising a 'softly softly' approach to prosecuting offenders, and landlords swearing defiance in the face of the ban, it remains to be seen whether smoking in public will be truly stubbed out.