Ahhhhh... cigarettes. Where to start?
Harder to kick than heroine, it is now common knowledge that for decades tobacco companies manipulated their product in such a way as to best ensure that their customers are customers for life, however abbreviated that might be, no matter what the economic and health consequences.
This is an industry that's grown phenomenally wealthy by working to suppress any evidence that their products are injurious to our health and, when it became obvious that they were full of s.h.i.t., heavily promoted "light" cigarette's to their addicts as a more healthful alternative. They knew then what is common knowledge today; there is no such thing as a "light" cigarette as a relates to the long-term health effects of the user. But this farce would help ensure that addicts would be less likely to quit and would continue to make cigarette peddlers obscene amounts of money.
These are the folks who have specifically targeted children in their ad campaigns to make sure that there will always be fresh generations of addicts to sell their poison to.
Who, when they realized that their gig is up in developed countries and that sales were certain to decline, stepped up their advertising in third world countries. How could they lose? An ill-informed populace governed by greedy, corrupt azzwipes who line their pockets with bribes proffered up by tobacco companies... no siree, no "nanny state" to worry about there!
In case you're wondering, I applaud Australia's move to kick tobacco advertising money out of motorsports. Big name racers have a tremendous influence on younger fans. The evidence? Simple, really; tobacco companies wouldn't be tossing millions into a sport if they didn't think there would be a bigtime return on investment. They may be evil sonzo'beaches, but they ain't dumb when it comes to making money.
If motorcycle roadracing is as addicted to tobacco company sponsorship as the addicts of the end product are, then there is a need for the sport to chew some Nicorette, do the right thing and quit making deals with the devil. The sport will stand on its own, I am certain.