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American Morning
Minding Your Business: Blowing Smoke
Aired November 20, 2002 - 08:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: What about the cigarettes? A lot of you get those ultra lights. You can smoke three packs a day, everything will be all right.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: So the cigarette companies would have you believe. Anyway, interesting story in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning, Philip Morris is coming out and issuing warnings on their light cigarettes saying, guess what, people, these light cigarettes aren't any good for you, something that the National Cancer Institute could have told you years and years ago.
CAFFERTY: How come the tobacco company are anxious to tell you they are selling poison? They didn't used to want to do that.
SERWER: Well, what's happening here is that regulators here are looking to remove the light, or mild or low tar designation, because they aren't any better for you, because smokers take bigger puffs, they take more puffs, but these light cigarettes are huge, they're 60 percent of the market. And in Europe, they are getting rid of those designations light, low tar, because they are absolutely meaningless. Philip Morris is trying to preempt this, and we are not sure if it's going to work. But they're trying to have us do this anyway.
CAFFERTY: My favorite story is the next one. I love this story.
SERWER: OK, that is Philip Morris saying -- OK, well.
Anyway, let's move on to something bigger and better -- golf and guns. They go together, I guess.
CAFFERTY: Yes, absolutely.
SERWER: Smith and Wesson, the gunmaker, is coming out with a line of golf clubs. I mean, I'm not really sure -- a lot of guys like to shoot guns and play golf. I don't get the connection.
CAFFERTY: Strange product choice.
SERWER: But anyway, it gives new meaning to some of the golf terms, like shooting par.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
SERWER: Then it gets worse.
CAFFERTY: How about killing it? SERWER: Shooting a birdie. Shooting a birdie. And then the worst one, this is where things get really serious, shooting an eagle. Shooting an eagle is a problem.
CAFFERTY: That's illegal.
SERWER: If you shoot an eagle with a Smith and Wesson club...
CAFFERTY: You're gone.
SERWER: ... penalty one to two years. They got to rethink this.
CAFFERTY: What are you in for? Well, I shot an eagle with an eight iron. And it's like, this is a bad guy here.
SERWER: He's a real bad guy. He's a golf nut. Put him in jail.
CAFFERTY: Smith and Wesson making golf clubs. Who'd would of thunk it?
SERWER: Explain it to me.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy. Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 20, 2002 - 08:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: What about the cigarettes? A lot of you get those ultra lights. You can smoke three packs a day, everything will be all right.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: So the cigarette companies would have you believe. Anyway, interesting story in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning, Philip Morris is coming out and issuing warnings on their light cigarettes saying, guess what, people, these light cigarettes aren't any good for you, something that the National Cancer Institute could have told you years and years ago.
CAFFERTY: How come the tobacco company are anxious to tell you they are selling poison? They didn't used to want to do that.
SERWER: Well, what's happening here is that regulators here are looking to remove the light, or mild or low tar designation, because they aren't any better for you, because smokers take bigger puffs, they take more puffs, but these light cigarettes are huge, they're 60 percent of the market. And in Europe, they are getting rid of those designations light, low tar, because they are absolutely meaningless. Philip Morris is trying to preempt this, and we are not sure if it's going to work. But they're trying to have us do this anyway.
CAFFERTY: My favorite story is the next one. I love this story.
SERWER: OK, that is Philip Morris saying -- OK, well.
Anyway, let's move on to something bigger and better -- golf and guns. They go together, I guess.
CAFFERTY: Yes, absolutely.
SERWER: Smith and Wesson, the gunmaker, is coming out with a line of golf clubs. I mean, I'm not really sure -- a lot of guys like to shoot guns and play golf. I don't get the connection.
CAFFERTY: Strange product choice.
SERWER: But anyway, it gives new meaning to some of the golf terms, like shooting par.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
SERWER: Then it gets worse.
CAFFERTY: How about killing it? SERWER: Shooting a birdie. Shooting a birdie. And then the worst one, this is where things get really serious, shooting an eagle. Shooting an eagle is a problem.
CAFFERTY: That's illegal.
SERWER: If you shoot an eagle with a Smith and Wesson club...
CAFFERTY: You're gone.
SERWER: ... penalty one to two years. They got to rethink this.
CAFFERTY: What are you in for? Well, I shot an eagle with an eight iron. And it's like, this is a bad guy here.
SERWER: He's a real bad guy. He's a golf nut. Put him in jail.
CAFFERTY: Smith and Wesson making golf clubs. Who'd would of thunk it?
SERWER: Explain it to me.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy. Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
