The history of the tobacco industry has a significant addition to the study of industry strategy. Many newborn industries came to better understand the fundamentals that the tobacco industry relied on and the handling of conflicts of interest that they won successfully. As a detrimental product seller, the tobacco industry managed to hold its position at the forefront of the global market using science and various strategies. Its evil industry campaign—apparently an open secret—is widely known to the world. The world is currently undergoing a deadly COVID-19 pandemic. In this crisis moment, we’ve seen some significant moves of the tobacco industry with its weird publicity. This is not a very new strategy, rather it is just a part of the legacy of its old-fashioned activities. To understand this fact, we must summarize the history of the tobacco industry’s growing up.
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By the early 1950s, some major medical
journals and mainstream media published some scientific methods and findings
that disclosed the fact that smoking caused lung cancer with other serious
respiratory and cardiac diseases. This brought the tobacco industry to crisis; and led
them to deal with an overwhelming situation. This was the first time the tobacco
industry got such a big threat in their business that resulted in an
unprecedented brand-new strategy—a strategy of eroding, confusing, and
condemning the scientific studies that made trouble in selling tobacco products.
They realized that consumers might be influenced by these scientific studies and
could be more conscious about tobacco products. In this case, if any engineered
approach—encompassing burning questions and public health concerns that raised
science—can be driven with some scientific researches which make people know
about these harms, people will deliberately support these ideas and will become
conscious according to the results and suggestions of these researches. But what
benefit goes to companies here? Generally, no company wants any issues that
create a negative impact on its consumers. They get prepared for the things
before becoming key issues for them and create such situations and narratives
that go in favour of them. And the tobacco industry just did it carefully. They
exploited all the critical aspects and discourses by their social engineering. Edward
Bernays, a prominent public relations theorist, so nicely elucidated this
social engineering in his book “Engineering of Consent”. Through this strategy, they
first manipulated antagonistic voices from the public debate and directed it in
favour of them using too many tools. Science, media, politics, and culture are some
common tools they use.
The tobacco industry conducted many campaigns in
the field of science with the motive of oversetting the study results and its
normative processes. To engineer the science to hide all harm caused by tobacco
products, they established a strong base of industrial interests and influence.
Some major companies hired John W. Hill, the president of Hill & Knowlton,
and endorsed his strategic plan of manipulating scientific research, debate and
outcomes. He owned a well-known public relations firm. He aimed to create an
industry-sponsored research entity. The
Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC) was formed. Hill & Knowlton
carefully designed it to serve the industry’s collective interests by controlling
scientific discourse about smoking and health. It managed more than 400
newspapers across the country (USA) to preach its promises to the consumers
that the companies would pursue the science of tobacco to unravel all the bluffs.
The Tobacco Industry Research Committee proclaimed that there is no conclusive
scientific proof of a link between smoking and cancer. They manipulated
journalists who were ignorant of scientific education and easily secured media
coverage to establish scepticism among the people about tobacco harm. With all the publicity Tobacco Industry Research Committee wanted people to believe that
there is no conclusive scientific proof of a link between smoking and cancer
and medical research finds many possible causes of cancer. They left no stone
unturned to reiterate this message for the next 40 years to influence the
media, public opinion, policy, regulation, and the law. TIRC budget approached
$1 million for Hill & Knowlton, media ads and administrative costs in 1954
which increased substantially in later years. Most of the TIRC's program
centred on basic questions in immunology, genetics, cell biology,
pharmacology, and virology. They were generally sceptical or agnostic. With all
of their initial efforts, tobacco companies experienced enormous success at that
time. Individual smokers filed lawsuits against the tobacco industry for many
legit reasons and the tobacco industry won almost each of their cases. They spent a huge amount of money on these cases with the motive of overwhelming
plaintiffs with legal costs. They came up with a no-proof strategy to defend
such litigations. So we see the industrial benefits of scientific uncertainty
they created. Hill & Knowlton built a strong political lobby and public relations
operation. Before 1960 it became Washington’s most powerful political lobby. At
that time their cigarette sales rose dramatically. Two-thirds of men and
one-third of women used to smoke cigarettes in the USA.
In reality, there was some good scientific
evidence of a relation between cigarettes and cancer which had a strong effect on
smokers, encouraging them to quit smoking. When public concern got risen,
cigarette companies started to defraud consumers by redesigning their
products and calling them safer. The tobacco industry put forward a new concept
that smoking—even if it is considered to be a potential risk taken—is an
“individual” choice. It means it is totally consumers' decision what they should
consume and what not. By establishing the notion of personal choice in this
context, they put all the responsibilities considering health risks associated
with their product on the individual smoker. And this helps the corporation to get
freed from all of the litigations connected to public health issues.
In the early stages, cigarette companies
made misleading and false-claimed advertisements to attract consumers. The
slogan of Craven “A” cigarette company was “For Your Throats Sake.” Lucky
Strike spread some evil messages through its ads like its product will reduce
coughing and will help to gain weight loss. It hired some prolific actors to
create an impact on these actor's fans. Philip
Morris claimed its product scientifically proved far less irritating to the
nose and throat in its ads! Camels cigarette company brought doctors to its
campaign to convince consumers. This company ridiculously claimed more doctors
smoke Camels! They urged people to consume their cigarettes for “digestion’s
sake”! Tobacco companies requested throat specialists to present cigarettes as
worthy of acceptance to patients with coughs and other complaints. They
encouraged such practitioners in many ways. To make their business ground
strong Tobacco Companies gave more than $50 million since 1990 to Republicans.
It indicates their interest and engagement in lobbying in politics.
With all efforts, the Tobacco Industry had
a lot of successes in past. They interfered in making laws. “The Control of
Essential Commodities Act, 1956” was created (in Pakistan) to provide for
powers to control the production, storage, distribution, trade and commerce
of certain commodities. In this act, a cigarette was classified as an “essential
commodity”. When the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh got worse, the Tobacco Industry
lobbied government agencies to protect its business during this pandemic. British
American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI), two
dominant transnational tobacco companies in Bangladesh, sent a similar letter to
the Secretary of the Ministry of Industries (MoI) to give support from the administration level to carry their business smoothly in lockdown. They put the
aforementioned old law down on their letter that classified cigarettes as
essential commodities.
Not only in
Bangladesh, During the COVID-19 breakout all over the world in 2020, they also gridded
up their loins to protect their running markets from all kinds of negative
impacts. They published numerous misinformation with the support of the world's
most renowned online and printing newspapers. It goes without saying that, they
invested a mammoth amount of money in media coverage. Many renowned newspapers
published the news titled “Smokers seem less likely than non-smokers to fall ill
with COVID-19!” the gist of this news was that researchers found in their study
that smokers are much less likely to suffer severely from COVID-19. In
conclusion, the news said, “All this suggests that something in tobacco smoke is
having a protective effect. The best guess is that something in question is
nicotine.” The news further added that smoking may lessen the damage! What a
disgusting strategy tobacco industries took to keep their business profitable
in a pandemic situation! Some renowned newspapers also published news on the
possibility of making vaccines from tobacco leaf! All of these are the result of
nasty propaganda of the tobacco industries and their investment in media. Such
misinformation was circulated all over the world backed by Tobacco Industries
while World Health Organization (WHO) was relentlessly warning people that smokers
are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19. WHO said on their website, “Smoking
is already known to be a risk factor for many other respiratory infections,
including colds, influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis. The effects of smoking
on the respiratory system make it more likely that smokers contract these
diseases, which could be more severe. Smoking is also associated with increased
development of acute respiratory distress syndrome, a key complication for
severe cases of COVID-19, among people with severe respiratory infections.”
It is high
time to raise a voice against all the evil propaganda that tobacco industries
have been carrying on from its beginning to the present time. Still, Tobacco
Industries are maintaining their ill-motivated strategy. Currently, India is
facing its worst-ever situation of the Covid-19 outbreak. Death rates and infection
rates become higher day by day. Delhi is running out of space to cremate Covid
death. Under such a terrible situation in India, Tobacco Industries have
published news in many renowned Indian newspapers titled “Smokers and vegetarians
less vulnerable to COVID-19 infection: CSIR study”. After creating public rage
some news portals have removed this content but this news is still visible in some
other online news portals. The business of the Tobacco Industry in a country must
be brought under control. Any sort of advertisement of tobacco products should
be banned permanently. Sin tax on tobacco products should be doubled every
year. All plans and Suggestions should be carried into effect. The history of the Tobacco Industry’s business policy clearly speaks volumes for its mischiefs and
crimes. The government should make a brand new law to force cigarette companies to compensate
victims who suffer diseases associated with smoking.
Well said
ReplyDeleteBut i have few argument,we will have debate someday
Sure, you will always be welcomed.
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