"We are in the cigarette business. We are not in the sports business. We use sports as an avenue for advertising our products." Tobacco Industry Executive (at RJR)

Using tennis to sell death

As direct consequence of the Davidoff/UNESCO incident that took place in 2009, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) requests "a review of the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Programme to ensure that no [tobacco] industry-sponsored person represents the United Nations." In 2009, opera singer Monserrat Caballé, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, accepted a cheque from the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in spite of the clear instructions from the Director General of UNESCO that such tobacco money be refused (see our article UNESCO flatly rejects donation from Davidoff Swiss Indoors). The action point submitted to the 53 members of ECOSOC who meet this month in New York further reminds them that "Goodwill Ambassadors and Messengers of Peace, are expected to be 'persons of integrity who demonstrate a strong desire to help mobilize public interest in, and support for, the purposes and principles of the United Nations'". This clearly suggests that such expectation was not met in the case of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors donation to Ms. Caballé.

In brief, this is yet another Basel gaffe, which will no doubt create great embarrassment for Swiss diplomacy and which doesn't contribute to project a good international image of our country. This shows that the Davidoff Swiss Indoors is becoming, with each passing day, more and more shameful for Basel and for Swiss sport. It's high time that an end be put to this ludicrous and highly damaging situation. Are you listening, Mr. Brennwald?

The Davidoff Swiss Indoors logo is a registered trademark. The official Swiss trademark registry (SWISSREG) lists tobacco company Davidoff & Cie SA as owner of the logo. Under "Goods and services", the registry record provides the following information: "Publicité, distribution de prospectus et d'échantillons, y compris d'échantillons de produits du tabac" ("Advertising, distribution of promotional leaflets and free samples, including free samples of tobacco products"). This is very interesting: an ATP 500 tournament whose purpose is to advertise tobacco products and distribute free samples of cigarettes and cigars!

"If they have lips, we want them!"

We will refrain from saying that the young ball girls and ball boys, who receive medals struck in the effigy of Davidoff as reward for being human billboards for the trademark, also get samples of cigarettes and cigars. However, at the tournament shop, parents can buy for their toddlers teddy bears (see picture) decorated with the Davidoff logo. After all, there is no reason not to accustom future smokers from the earliest age with their future cigarette brand of choice, by having its logo on their most loved object - their teddy bear. This is indeed consistent with the philosophy of the tobacco executive who once said, when asked if his company maketed its products to kids: "If they have lips, we want them!"