(1) Any retailer may advertise, offer to sell, or sell cigarettes at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is selling the same article in this state at cost to him as a retailer as prescribed in sections 59-1501 to 59-1518. Any wholesaler may advertise, offer to sell, or sell cigarettes at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is rendering the same type of service and is selling the same article at cost to him as a wholesaler as prescribed in sections 59-1501 to 59-1518. The price of cigarettes advertised, offered for sale, or sold under the exceptions specified in section 59-1508 shall not be considered the price of a competitor and shall not be used as a basis for establishing prices below cost, nor shall the price established at a bankruptcy sale be considered the price of a competitor within the meaning of this section.
(2) In the absence of proof of the price of a competitor, under this section, the lowest cost to the retailer, or the lowest cost to the wholesaler, as the case may be, determined by any cost survey, made pursuant to section 59-1513, may be deemed the price of a competitor within the meaning of this section.