Although far better known for Hamlet than Bach, they are the same tune. Testimony indeed to the power of tobacco adverts to influence culture. Now virtually all tobacco advertising is to be banned. Magazine pages will be devoid of unexplained pieces of slashed purple silk, billboards in busy streets are to shed their images of vast open stretches of Americana. The government believes the ban will help cut the number of people taking up smoking.
Tobacco companies disagree, claiming advertising only encourages existing smokers to swap brands.
Certainly cigarette advertising makes a strong impression - tobacco brands are among the best known names in the world. But the authorities' battle is far from won. Nothing excites advertising creatives more than a challenge, and in this case it could be to find ways around the regulations. Hugh Grant in Notting Hill - later seen with book of the next film Product placement is one option. The practice of slipping brand names into films is well established.