Quotes
From Tobacco Companies
(The
following quotes have been compiled by 'Just Eliminate Lies,' a tobacco
prevention program based in iowa.)
"What do you think smokers would do if they didn't smoke? You get pleasure from it, and you get some other beneficial things, such as relief. Maybe you'd beat your wife." Geoffrey C. Bible, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Philip Morris, New York Times, March 4, 1998
(Speechless. Utterly speechless.)
"It appears that female smokers are, or consider themselves to be, more highly motivated to smoke than male smokers and there is evidence that they find it harder to stop smoking. Although it is not completely clear why this should be the case, it may be related to the observations that women are more neurotic than men and more likely to need to smoke in stressful situations, presumably because they are less well able to deal with stress." 1976 report made for BAT
(Like women even have time to smoke with
all the cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing, baby-making, diaper-changing,
vacuuming, dusting and sweeping they have to do every day.)
"The studies reported on youngsters' motivation for starting, their brand preferences, etc., as well as the starting behavior of children as young as 5 years old ..." Brown & Williamson document
(Mental note: Big Tobacco employees are NEVER allowed to baby sit.)
"Ads for teenagers must be denoted by lack of artificiality, and sense of
honesty." Kwechansky Marketing Research Inc. Report for Imperial
Tobacco, 1977
(Wow! Would ya' look at that! Big
Tobacco actually knows how to use the word "Honesty" in a sentence.
Who knew?)
"Long after adolescent preoccupation with self-image has subsided, the cigarette will even preempt food in times of scarcity on the smoker's priority list." Presentation to the Philip Morris board of directors, 1969
(Think about this: they're basically
saying that smokers will go hungry before they go without a cigarette. But Big
Tobacco still - to this day - won't say that nicotine's addictive. Figures.)
"Marlboro's phenomenal growth rate in the past has been attributable in large part to our high market penetration among young smokers... 15 to 19 years old... my own data, which includes younger teenagers, shows even higher Marlboro market penetration among 15-17 year olds." Myron E. Johnston, Philip Morris researcher, 1975
(That's weird. We thought you guys were supposed to only market to people 18 and over. Hmm. You wouldn't happen to be doing anything illegal, would you?)
"I have just received data on the graduating class of 1982 and the results
are much more encouraging and corroborate the Roper data (a survey that tracked
smoking trends)... These data show that smoking prevalence among these
18-year-old high school seniors has increased from 1981 to 1982." Philip
Morris interoffice memo, February 19, 1983
(Class of '82 alum: "By golly, in
my day we didn't have no need for any of that JEL mumbo-jumbo. We had cigarettes
and by golly we {pause for five minute coughing attack} liked'em.")
"The ability to attract new smokers and develop them into a young adult franchise is key to brand development." 1999 Philip Morris report
(Note to reader: "franchise" in the above quote should be read as "addicts".)
"The fragile, developing self-image of the young person needs all the
support and enhancement it can get. Smoking may appear to enhance that
self-image in a variety of ways. If one values, for example, an adventurous,
sophisticated, adult-image, smoking may enhance ones self image... This self
image enhancement effect has traditionally been a strong promotional theme for
cigarette brands and should continue to be emphasized." 1973 R.J.
Reynolds draft paper
(It's jaw-dropping to realize how
savagely manipulative they can be.)
"Our profile taken locally shows this brand being purchased by black people (all ages), young adults (usually college age), but the base of our business in the high school student." August 30, 1978 Lorillard memo
(We're surprised they haven't tried to
sponsor the Prom. Can you imagine that? "This year's Prom theme: A Night in
Marlboro Country.")
"To account for the fact that the beginning smoker will tolerate the unpleasantness, we must invoke a psychological motive." 1969 draft report prepared for Philip Morris
("In other words, we must make the
horrid taste, the resulting health problems and ultimately, the painful death
seem really, really 'far-out'.")
"At the outset it should be said that we are presently, and I believe
unfairly, constrained from directly promoting cigarettes to the youth
market." 1973 R.J. Reynolds draft paper
(Fight the power RJ! It's not like your product is deadly or highly addictive. . . Oh crap, that's right! Never mind then.)
"If you are really and truly not going to sell to children, you are going to be out of business in 30 years." Bennet Lebow, CEO of Brook Group Ltd. (makers of Lark and L&M cigarettes)
(So, what you're saying is, sell to kids if you want to stay in business?)
"Target audience for the sampling effort on KOOL King Size includes both men and women in the 15-24 age group." Brown & Williamson Internal Memo
(Why not just target preschoolers, too?)
"Realistically, if our company is to survive and prosper over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market. In my opinion, this will require new brands tailored to the youth market." Claude Teague, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
(Can you say MA-NIP-U-LA-TION?)
"Apples connote goodness and freshness and we see many possibilities for our youth-oriented cigarette with this flavor. Apple cider is also a possibility." Brown & Williamson report
(What about honey? Some of my friends like honey.)
"It's a well-known fact that teenagers like sweet products. Honey might be considered." Brown & Williamson Memo 1972
(Heck, why not bubble gum and cherry flavors while you're at it?)
"Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the taste of candy, if you know what I'm saying." U.S. Tobacco, Former UST sales representative, 1994
(Why are we not surprised? And yes, we know what you're saying, wink, wink, children like candy, wink, wink;)
"Brown & Willamson will not support a youth smoking program which discourages young people from smoking." Tobacco Institute Memo 1983
(Why? What are you afraid of, JEL? You should be.)
"Today's teenager is tomorrow's potential regular customer." Myron E. Johnston Philip Morris Researcher 1981
(That's what you think, Myron.)
"They represent tomorrow's cigarette business...at the time 14-24 age group matures, they will account for a key share of the total cigarette volume - for at least the next 25 years." R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Marketing Plan 1974
(Translation: "We believe the children are our future, hook them young and let them smoke away.")
"Project Stealth. Project Ambrosia." Philip Morris code names used in documents concerning its bid to mask ETS.
(Quick, look up "Ambrosia". That is just pathetic.)
"The teenage years are also important because those are the years during which most smokers begin to smoke, the years in which initial brand selections are made, and the period in the life-cycle in which conformity to peer-group norms is greatest." Myron E. Johnston, Philip Morris, 1975
(Hey, it's Myron again! Thanks for the insight MY-RON, but this isn't 1975 and you're not gonna brainwash this generation.)
"We wonder whether such children may not eventually become cigarette smokers in their teenage years as they discover the advantage of self-stimulation via nicotine. We have already collaborated with a local school system in identifying some such children in the third grade." Philip Morris report, 1974
(What the? Third grade? Mind waiting until they know the whole alphabet before you start brainwashing them?)
"Comic strip type copy might get a much higher readership among younger people than any other type of copy." R.J. Reynolds marketing memo, 1973
(Hey, why not throw a purple dinosaur in there while you're at it?)
"Ads for teenagers must be denoted by lack of artificiality, and sense of honesty." Kwechansky Marketing Research Inc. Report for Imperial Tobacco, 1977
(What, exactly, is a "sense of honesty"?)
"We don't smoke the stuff. We reserve that "right" for the young, the poor, the black, and the stupid." Former R.J. Reynolds tobacco employee
(It's obvious Big Tobacco values their customers as "friends".)
"We have been asked by our client to come up with a package design...a design that is attractive to kids. While this cigarette is geared to the youth market, no attempt (obvious) can be made to encourage persons under twenty-one to smoke. The package design should be geared to attract the youthful eye...not the ever watchful eye of the Federal Government." Letter from Lorillard advertising account executive to a marketing professor, soliciting help from his students with advertising design. 1970
("Alright kids, your homework assignment for this weekend is to manipulate, brainwash and addict your very own friends. Hey, where are you all going?")
"Very few consumers are aware of the effects of nicotine, i.e., its addictive nature and that nicotine is a poison." Brown & Williamson Memo 1978
(a.k.a. ignorance = bliss)
Some of JEL's roadside billboards.
Want to do some digging on your own? These are some of the
best sites of complete documents from the tobacco industry.
www.tobacco.org
www.tobaccoarchives.com