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How you see you
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How Big Tobacco sees you

We don’t smoke the sh*t. We just sell it. We reserve that right for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid.

— R.J. Reynolds executive
Based on July 25, 1989 Congressional testimony of the former “Winston Man” for Winston Cigarettes
How Big Tobacco sees you
For decades, the tobacco industry has aggressively targeted California’s diverse communities with predatory practices.
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How you see you
How Big Tobacco sees you

African American/Black

There are up to ten times more tobacco ads in African American/Black neighborhoods than in others.

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How Big Tobacco sees you

American Indian

The tobacco industry appropriates American Indian cultures in marketing, using valued traditions to promote tobacco use.

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How Big Tobacco sees you

Hispanic/Latino

Big Tobacco gave $75,000 to the Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce to mail 92,000 letters urging businesses to protest tobacco tax increases.

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How Big Tobacco sees you

Asian/Pacific Islander

A Tobacco executive stated that Asian American populations would be a profitable target due to “this community being generally predisposed toward smoking.”

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How Big Tobacco sees you

Low-income

Big Tobacco targeted children living in low-income housing projects by handing out free packs of cigarettes in the 1950s.

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How Big Tobacco sees you

LGBTQ+

In 1995, a tobacco company created a targeted marketing plan for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) communities called “Project SCUM.”

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How Big Tobacco sees you

People with Mental Health Challenges

Big Tobacco promoted cigarettes as a medicinal substance in behavioral health treatment facilities.

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How Big Tobacco sees you

Rural communities

Big Tobacco warps rural masculine ideals by depicting rugged images of cowboys, hunters, and racecar drivers in their advertising, making people living in rural communities some of Big Tobacco’s best customers.

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A Story of Inequity

Tobacco’s impact on health disparities in California

For decades, the tobacco industry has aggressively targeted California’s diverse communities with predatory practices. Internal documents from Big Tobacco outline their strategies – many of which are shocking attempts to peddle deadly products by way of product discounts and manipulative advertising. They even gave away free products to youth in the past. These tactics masquerade as support for communities under the guise of cultural celebration.

Unfortunately, the tactics have worked. Big Tobacco aggressively targeted communities and, as a result, some populations have higher rates of tobacco use, experience greater secondhand smoke exposure at work and at home, and have higher rates of tobacco-related disease than the general population.1

Addressing tobacco-related health inequities is key to California’s efforts to fight tobacco, our state’s number one cause of preventable death and disease.2 Tobacco use, pricing, and its impact across California were analyzed where significant disparities were found across various populations. See how Big Tobacco affects each community in the nation’s most diverse state.

A Story Of Inequity methodology >