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The Tobacco Problem
Analogy | Facts | Greed & Fear | Knowing Good From Bad

The Tobacco Problem

THE TOBACCO PROBLEM
(in a nutshell)

Smoking kills. It also causes addiction, disease, disability, poverty, and property damage. The tobacco companies have known this since the 1940’s.

A responsible company would apologize profusely, make amends for the damages they had done, and close their business...or find a different product that would benefit rather than destroy our society.

The tobacco companies, however, chose to conceal the truth, lie to the public, and continue to promote their deadly products, involving multitudes of otherwise decent people to perpetuate their insidious scam.

In the 1980’s, scientific studies began to reveal the real damage caused by smoking and the Surgeon General’s Report warned us of the hazards to our health.

The most recent Surgeon General’s Report tells us that smoking cigarettes affects every cell in the body; it’s more hazardous to your health than previously thought.

Subsequent studies have shown that even slightest exposure to tobacco smoke can forever alter our genetic make-up, making us more vulnerable to cancer and other diseases.

Why haven’t we seen dramatic changes?

The tobacco problem is much larger than just smoking and heath. It involves farming, jobs, politics, the economy, religious beliefs, cultural traditions, corporate maneuverings, genetic manipulation, manipulation of nicotine levels, manipulation of the truth, mom and pop grocery stores, international corporate conglomerates, a huge health industry built upon smoking induced diseases, advertising and promotion, freedom of speech, ethics, junk science, and the list goes on to include all aspects of our society.

And if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find smuggling, fraud, extortion, public deception, lying under oath about the addictiveness of tobacco, and even links to terrorism.

It’s not pretty.

After all these years of deception, multitudes of people, businesses, educational and religious institutions, researchers, arts and sports organizations, and the entertainment industry at all levels of society are hooked into the lies and hooked on tobacco money.

They have too much to lose to speak the truth, so like smokers, they accept their uncomfortable situation, rationalize their behavior, remain silent, and continue to do what they know they shouldn't.

Meanwhile, the American tobacco companies are more determined than ever to sell their products and increase their profits…at any cost.

Despite promising in the 1998 state tobacco settlement to stop marketing to kids, the tobacco companies have actually increased their cigarette marketing by 125 percent since 1998 to a record $15.1 billion a year nationwide, or $41.5 million a day, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

(In contrast, all the states combined are scheduled to spend just $551 million this year on tobacco prevention programs.)

Trying to regulate the death-dealing tobacco companies
is like stepping on a water balloon…
No matter how hard or how often you step down,
the water pops up some place else!

Our laws have had little real impact because whatever laws we make, the tobacco companies find a way around them.

Until we eliminate the desire and demand for tobacco, it’s their balloon, and we’ll just keep stepping.

The Solution?

Even if we can’t legislate the tobacco companies into responsible behavior, we can be responsible ourselves.

We can strive for a smoke-free society by seeking the truth and eliminating the desire for tobacco…and the dependence on tobacco money.

By graphically revealing the unscrupulous tactics used to cultivate that desire, we can eventually eliminate the demand.

The BADvertising Institute is an educational program working toward a smoke-free society by immunizing young people against deceitful tobacco advertising, marketing, and promotion.

By showing the truth about tobacco, and exposing the devious tactics that tobacco companies use to willfully cultivate a deadly desire, we strive to eliminate the desire for tobacco and the dependence on tobacco money.

The BADvertising program is based on Bonnie Vierthaler’s art exhibit of doctored-up tobacco ads entitled “The Joy of Smoking…A Spoof on Cigarette Advertising”.