ANR UPDATE, 30(3), Fall 2011

Has the Industry Changed?

Tobacco companies will kill ONE BILLION people worldwide this century. One billion. This is a number so huge that it’s hard to even put into comprehensible terms. The bottom line is tobacco companies are not normal companies. They are pariahs – responsible for the leading preventable causes of cancer, heart disease, and lung disease in the world. Tobacco companies are under attack around the world, but far from having thrown in the towel, they continue fighting hard everywhere on both legislative and legal fronts. They are also fighting hard to repair their image and to maintain their influence on public policy – to give the impression that they are just “normal” large companies. With normalcy comes the ability to engage with opinion leaders and lawmakers. Lawmakers are more likely to accept campaign donations from corporations and meet with their lobbyists if constituents aren’t outraged by the relationship. With normalcy, tobacco companies are able to influence legislation and regulation, soften media coverage, and convince jury pools that the companies are responsible corporate citizens. The end result of the industry’s fake “social responsibility” PR campaign is more cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and early death for generations of smokers to come. Five years ago, in a historic ruling, a federal district court found tobacco companies guilty of civil racketeering – just like white-collar mobsters. But some recent developments make it seem almost like this never happened. Has the industry changed its ways, or is it business as usual? Check out some of these recent developments and let us know
what you think.

1) Altria – the parent company of tobacco giant Philip Morris – recently was a lead sponsor for the Aspen Institute Ideas Festival. This is a gathering of key opinion leaders, who discuss how to solve the world’s major problems, including public health and environmental issues. Which is worse – tobacco companies funding rock concerts for kids in Asia, or funding a gathering of key decision-makers who will impact the future of tobacco industry regulation? The bottom line is that a tobacco funded meeting is not a legitimate forum in which to talk about public health issues. It should be a dealbreaker for legitimate public health organizations or government officials to attend such a meeting funded by Big Tobacco racketeers.

2) Lorillard – the nation’s third largest tobacco company racketeer – has named Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush Administration to its board of directors.

3) Why is the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) fighting smokefree laws? Numerous state legislatures across the country debated live performance/production exemptions from smokefree laws simultaneously last session. What are the odds those carve-out efforts were really being led by local community thespians? Is the MPAA fronting for the tobacco industry by keeping smoking in movies? In return, do tobacco industry lobbyists then help build and maintain support for state film production subsidies? Could this be why MPAA was especially active in seeking to kill or weaken the smokefree legislation in North Carolina? Just wondering.

4) The University of Florida has named former head of Reynolds American, Susan Cameron, to its Board of Trustees. Does industry targeting of young adults count as relevant work experience?

5) Do you think you are smart, progressive, and eco-friendly? Great! Tobacco giant Reynolds American has a brand just for you, called American Spirit. They are running ads in women’s magazines to highlight "green" efforts like replacing paper cups at the office with ceramic mugs. This obviously does not make up for selling a product that kills millions of people. This is called "greenwashing."

6) A database from the American Lung Association of California shows that 50% of California state lawmakers have accepted tobacco industry campaign contributions in the past two years. Do you think this might have anything to do with the fact that it has been so hard to close the egregious loopholes in California’s smokefree workplace law?

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