Discussion:
Tobacco companies often sell tobacco products labeled as light or ultra light. Labeling cigarettes as light and ultra light insinuates that the product contains lower amounts of tar and nicotine and that the consumer using the product will ingest lower amounts of nicotine and tar. However, three smokers from Maine argued that documents within the tobacco industry raised uncertainty about whether such products actually contained lower amounts of the harmful ingredients. Furthermore, the smokers of such products tended to take longer drags from the cigarettes, taking in more smoke. Thus, the light and ultra-light consumers were not ingesting less tar and nicotine than smokers using regular cigarettes. The three smokers determined that the Federal Trade Commission did not stop such deceptive advertising, and they sued the cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris, and the Altria Group. The case moved beyond a federal appeals court and was ultimately brought before the Supreme Court. Did the Supreme Court allow the lawsuits to go forward on grounds of deceptive advertising?