This article seeks to reveal the true nature of Big Tobacco by discussing five different truths about these companies. The power of these companies largely relies on silence from the media, scientific communities and the public about such truths. Five of the most hard-hitting realizations about tobacco companies are that they deny the facts, present alternative facts, fund and review anti-tobacco campaigns, knowingly cause harm to consumers and prey on the young and uninformed.
They Deny the Facts
Tobacco companies have historically bought up the leading scientists and researchers in the tobacco field to ensure greater control over breakthrough research. During the early 1960s, independent research threatened tobacco companies with forthcoming evidence that cigarette smoke was directly related to lung cancer. Tobacco companies chose to privately accept the facts and seek a solution, but they publicly denied and distorted the truth. They coerced private researchers to back away from their findings or remain silent. Even as late as 1989, The Tobacco Institute of Hong Kong stated, “the view that smoking causes specific diseases remains an opinion or a judgement, and not an established fact.”
They Present Alternative Facts
While disregarding the truth as a subjective reality is certainly negligent, knowingly presenting a false, alternative reality as being as equally valid as the truth is a clear break from morality. Even after several “smoking-gun” studies and a decree by the US Surgeon General, John Carlisle was still insisting to BBC Radio that “there is no such thing as conclusive evidence.” Tobacco companies insist that scientists have failed to prove anything. These companies clearly feed into the illusion that smoking is safe by keeping the issue up in the air and upholding the comforting lie. They present the argument that cancer and other diseases are caused by several factors and smoking cannot be unfairly singled out as the sole cause.
They Fund and Review Anti-Tobacco Ads
As part of a major settlement in 1998, major tobacco companies agreed to fund advertising campaigns to explain the real dangers of consuming their product. It should be concerning that the very same companies selling cigarettes are the ones in charge of reviewing and sponsoring prevention programs. These companies heavily rely on one settlement mandate that prohibits anti-smoking ads from personally attacking or vilifying tobacco companies. This clause allows companies, like Phillip Morris, to discard any campaign that sends a negative message about their brand. Knowing this truth about Big Tobacco, is it any surprise that decades-long research confirms that prevention programs are at best ineffective and at worst more harmful to today’s youth?
They Knowingly Poison Consumers
The same 1998 settlement that forced tobacco companies to inform consumers about the dangers of cigarettes also mandated the release of over 40 million pages of secret research being hoarded in Minneapolis. Future settlements led to the release of additional hidden knowledge across the globe. The sickening revelations continue to stun naïve researchers when they learn that tobacco companies knew the harm they were causing and even launched a global “Operation Berkshire” conspiracy to collectively conceal and oppose any anti-tobacco research. Even worse, the companies regularly employ smuggling as an important part of their marketing, pricing-control and political influence.
They Prey on the Young and Less Informed
One of the most heart-wrenching and hard-to-read responses from an actor promoting RJ Reynolds cigarettes came in 1992. He quoted to the news outlet First Tuesday, “We don’t smoke that….we just sell it. We just reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid.” The scam has been made obvious in most developed nations, so tobacco companies have moved much of their business to less-developed countries in search of higher profits.
Five of the most hard-hitting truths about Big Tobacco are that they deny the facts, present alternative facts, fund and review anti-tobacco campaigns, knowingly cause harm to consumers and prey on the young and uninformed. These truths all point to fact that tobacco companies are predatory by nature and seek out to actively cause harm to their consumers for profit. We must collectively abandon support of these predators by freeing the masses from the illusion they are under and stop feeding into the big tobacco beast.
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