Tobacco

What Have They Been Smoking?

by Anne Landman — June 22, 2010 - 2:20pm
  • Topics: Science, Secrecy, Tobacco

    • Jeffrey Wigand became one of the most famous whistleblowers of all time after he revealed the tobacco industry's darkest secrets starting in 1994. He is the former Brown & Williamson Vice President and scientist portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 1999 movie "The Insider".

    Different Colored Cigarette Packs, Same Deadly Diseases

    by Anne Landman — June 18, 2010 - 4:18pm

    The landmark tobacco legislation President Obama signed last year banned tobacco companies from using descriptors like "light," "ultralight," "low tar" and "mild" o

    Main Source: 
    USA Today, June 15, 2010

    CREW Seeks Investigation of Tobacco Panel Members

    by Anne Landman — June 7, 2010 - 1:02pm

    Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has asked the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate two people appointed to serve on the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, which evaluates tobacco product-related safety and health issues and provides advice, information and recommendations to the Commissioner of the

    Main Source: 
    Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, June 7, 2010

    Tobacco's New Target: Women in Developing Countries

    by Anne Landman — May 3, 2010 - 4:25pm

    As smoking rates decline in the developed world, tobacco companies are searching for new markets, and they are finding them in developing south Asian countries, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia. People in rural areas of Bangladesh see advertisements that are unimaginable in other parts of the world. Ads tell smokers that they are smarter, more energetic and better lovers than non-smokers.

    Main Source: 
    MySinchew.com, April 29, 2010

    Healthwashing Soda

    by Anne Landman — March 10, 2010 - 12:09pm
  • Topics: Corporate Campaigns, Obesity, Public Relations, Tobacco

    • As state and local governments consider taxing soda and sugary drinks to raise money and address the national obesity epidemic, manufacturers of sugary drinks -- like countless other industries -- are taking PR cues from the tobacco industry to defeat the initiatives. The PR tactics they are using are starting to be old hat. By now, everyone should be able to spot them, but just in case you're not up to speed on your corporate PR literacy, here's what to look for:

    Step One: Position your product as the solution, not the problem

    Coca Cola, Pepsico and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group are running print and TV ads promoting their joint initiative to remove full-calorie, artificially-sweetened drinks from schools. At the same time, Americans Against Food Taxes, the front group for the sugary drink manufacturers, is sending out emails boasting that soda companies have replaced full-calorie soft drinks with "smaller-portion" and "portion-controlled" beverages, real juice and bottled water in schools. Voila'! Their products are no longer the problem, they are part of the solution. Even better, now they'll get kids to buy more bottled water -- which costs them next to nothing to make -- at a dollar a bottle. Score!

    Philip Morris Pushing Smoking Hard in Foreign Countries

    by Anne Landman — March 8, 2010 - 4:16pm
  • Topics: Health, International, Tobacco

    • In the 1950s, more than half the U.S. population smoked. Now that number is down to just 21 percent of adults. As the domestic cigarette market shrinks, tobacco companies are taking their business to the developing world, where they don't have to deal with pesky things like advocacy groups that oppose industry activity, smoking bans, or a populace that is aware of the health hazards of smoking.

    Now Philip Morris (PM) is playing hardball in lesser-developed countries to try and preserve their ability to market cigarettes however they want. On February 19, PM filed a lawsuit against Uruguay to try and force that country to withdraw a new law requiring 80 percent of each side of cigarette packs show graphic images depicting the health effects of smoking.

    Soda Industry Using Tobacco Industry PR Strategies

    by Anne Landman — February 19, 2010 - 1:45pm

    Manufacturers of sugar-laden drinks are adopting Big Tobacco's public relations strategies in response to government proposals to tax soda and sugary drinks.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, February 12, 2010

    Oil, Tobacco Interests Fund Luxury Getaway for Republicans

    by Anne Landman — January 25, 2010 - 1:50pm

    Oil and tobacco companies and other businesses hoping to press their agenda in the California legislature picked up most of the tab for a gathering of about 25 Republican state legislators and a dozen of their aides at a luxurious beach resort in Santa Barbara, California.

    Main Source: 
    Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2010

    Taxpayers Subsidize Smoking in "Avatar," Other Youth-Rated Movies

    by Anne Landman — January 13, 2010 - 11:59am

    Smoke Free Movies, a project that aims to "reduce the U.S. film industry's usefulness to Big Tobacco's domestic and global marketing" has started running advertisements in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety about the movie Avatar. The ads state that,

    For every $100 million it earns at the box office, Avatar ...

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, January 11, 2009

    Smoking in "Avatar": Necessary to "Reflect Reality"?

    by Anne Landman — January 4, 2010 - 4:26pm

    James Cameron's new blockbuster movie Avatar won a "black lung" rating for gratuitous smoking from the Web site Scenesmoking.org, which rates motion pictures according to the amount of smoking they show. Avatar is a futuristic fantasy that takes place sometime in the 22nd century. In it, Sigourney Weaver plays an environmental scientist who puffs on cigarettes as she tries to save the moon Pandora.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, January 3, 2010
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