Manipulating public perceptions

Putting their best foot forward

One lesson the tobacco industry learnt very early was that public opinion matters.

Despite the millions of lives that are lost each year as a result of smoking, the tobacco industry invests in various programmes and social causes to deflect the attention from the negative impact of their brands.

By using corporate social responsibility or social investment. Tobacco companies present themselves as responsible member of society.

But research across the world into internal tobacco industry documents show that these industry use these investments to generate good publicity for the industry and deflect attention from tobacco as a health hazard.

Tobacco companies are savvy about the power of branding

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The cigarette box has become iconic to each manufacturer and without realising it smokers have become walking adverts for the brand they smoke. Read more

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How the tobacco industry is gaming Australia's health regulations

Australia’s tough tobacco regulations are acting as a catalyst for the industry to develop sophisticated marketing practices. These companies are gaming the system by anticipating regulatory impact and then using unregulated marketing elements to overcome it.

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The tobacco industry's history of miscampaigns

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The US tobacco industry introduced a new wave of lobbying efforts efforts in the 1970s — “public information” campaigns to prevent anti-tobacco legislation. Read more