Looks like justice. Look again.
Big Tobacco pays Black leaders to be part of community events that are disguised as events addressing the criminal justice system and decriminalizing the Black community, exploiting community concerns about this important issue. In reality, these events mislead the community about how restrictions on the sale of menthol cigarettes work.*
In this community town hall flyer, it looks like National Action Network (NAN), a civil rights organization, is hosting the event, but look at who’s really behind it.*
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) is really behind this event, paying for the travel costs of the panelists and making contributions to the panelists’ organizations. But RAI buried their name on the flyer and made it look like NAN was the main sponsor of the event – why? Because, RAI is using Black voices to lure people to the event to spread misinformation about menthol cigarette sales bans to protect Big Tobacco’s bottom line.*
Town hall panelist, LEAP (Law Enforcement Action Partnership), is one of the many organizations that accepts money from Big Tobacco and advocates for what the tobacco industry wants – to keep deadly menthol cigarettes on the market.*
