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為何我們讓煙草商一直不斷撒謊？

煙草業的影響力遠不僅止於巧妙的公關活動及針對目標群眾的廣告，畢竟絕大多數成功的企業都在做同樣的事。那麼，煙草商的影響力為何如此深具危險性？他們為什麼如此臭名昭彰？為何現今所有的「惡劣」行業都被拿來與它們相互比較？

我們何不讓煙草商的高管為自己發聲來回答這些問題？

  • 「我們有半數的顧客都喝醉了，而且像個混蛋東西一樣地吸電子煙，哪還會有人他X的(髒話)注意到我們的煙彈品質。」- 據稱這是JUUL首席執行長於2019年在經銷商提出對於產品風險的擔憂時所做的回應。1
  • 「朋友聽好了，我不在乎自己是在賣尿片、電子煙⋯⋯或是游泳池用品，不管賣什麼都好，只要哪裡有錢可賺，我就在哪裡。」- 這是Puff Bar的首席執行長在2018年的某個播客中所說的。2
  • 「我們不抽這種狗屎東西，我們只負責販賣。我們為年輕人、窮人、黑人及愚蠢的人保留吸煙的權利。」- 這是曾為雲斯頓香煙(Winston Cigarettes)代言的前「雲斯頓代言人」，在1990年對於該煙草商高管對他說過的話所做出的指證。3
  • 「儘可能多加了解青少年的吸煙模式及態度非常重要。今日的青少年將是明日的潛在常客，絕大多數的吸煙者在十幾歲時就開始吸煙⋯⋯青少年的吸煙模式對於菲利普莫里斯煙草公司來說尤為重要。」 – 這是1981年菲利普莫里斯報告(Philip Morris Report)中的一段引述，並被該公司高管卡羅琳·利維(Carolyn Levy)所批准。卡羅琳·利維後來成為該公司青少年吸煙預防計劃的負責人。4
  • 「他們不都有嘴唇嗎？我們想要他們。」這是R.J.雷諾煙草公司銷售代表特倫斯·沙利文(Terrence Sullivan)在1990年所得到的答案。當時他詢問公司 所設定的目標群眾是哪些年輕人？是初中生或甚至更年幼的孩子？5
  • 「對我們來說幸運的是，香煙是他們無法戒除的習慣！」 – 這是出自1953年大煙草商高管對偉達公關公司(Hill & Knowlton)高管所說的話。6

簡而言之：一切都以賺錢為目的。

「煙草商教戰手冊」聲名遠播，或者我們應該說臭名昭彰。該手冊是煙草商用來持續賺錢的各種方法之總合，即使必須面對公眾對於其所導致之死亡與疾病的憤怒。這些方法甚至被其他希望能持續賺錢的產業採用，例如大型石油公司及大型科技公司，因為有證據顯示這些公司正在傷害大眾。789

那麼，這些煙草商教戰手冊中臭名昭彰的方法有哪些？讓我們來看看其中的一些：

  • 撒下恐懼、不確定及懷疑的種子。在1969年，雷諾煙草公司(RJ Reynolds)的一份內部備忘錄指出，「懷疑是我們的產品，因為它是與公眾心中存在的『事實本體』拉鋸較勁的最好手法。」10
  • 資助旨在破壞科學共識的研究，也就是有關煙草對於健康影響的科學共識，並將危害的發現定調為「垃圾科學」。1112
  • 偽草根輿論。煙草商創建許多先鋒外圍團體來打擊公共衛生措施。1314 所謂偽草根輿論，就是用來偽裝基層運動的術語，而實際上應辦事項及策略都是由幕後隱藏的公司或組織控制。以下是一些煙草商的先鋒外圍團體：加州人公平商業政策、加州商業和餐廳聯盟，以及比佛利山莊餐廳協會。聽起來合法嗎？他們應該是如此。
  • 漂綠。煙草公司為增加利潤而清理聲譽，因此鼓吹清理海灘垃圾、向環保組織捐款，並減少其碳足跡。151617 當有爭議的行業以致力環保來推銷其商品及/或形象，從而增加產品銷售並轉移公眾對其自身破壞環境做法的注意力，這就是所謂的「漂綠」。18
  • 遊說。煙草商每年耗資數百萬美元進行政治運動與遊說，以能繼續誘人上癮和殘殺大眾。單在2021年，煙草商就花費3100萬美元進行聯邦級的遊說，以削弱公共衛生及煙草控制政策的力度。

對許多人來說，煙草商的操控和欺騙已成為遙遠的記憶，也許只是煙草商高管於1990年代在國會作證的模糊印象，而煙草商在2006年曾因違反敲詐勒索法而被定罪(敲詐勒索代表某企業一直以強制、欺詐或其他方式進行非法商業活動)、向兒童及少數族裔推銷，以及就吸煙的危害向公眾撒謊。1920

繼續向前快轉幾年：成人和青少年的吸煙率及煙草商的利潤都在持續下降，一直到進入大煙草商的電子煙時代，他們再次登場！煙草商使用同樣的老伎倆和老套路試圖迷惑我們。到了2016年，每家大煙草商公司都至少擁有一種電子煙品牌。2122該產業聲稱電子煙是為成年吸煙者「減少傷害」的工具，即使研究大量揭示出電子煙對健康的眾多危害。23 他們的電子煙創造能吸引全新世代年輕人的電子煙流行病。24

讓我們將數百萬兒童現在可能因吸食尼古丁而造成大腦長期損害暫放一邊，來看看這種所謂「減少傷害」的說法。252627  煙草商所謂減少傷害的騙局其實並不新鮮，電子煙只是煙草商一系列減少傷害騙局中的一種營銷手段。從香煙濾嘴，到聲稱低焦油和低尼古丁產品，再到無煙的煙草產品，這些所謂其產品會減少傷害的聲稱，一直到後來才被揭露只是讓大眾對這些危險產品上癮的另一種策略，這一點也不令人感到意外。煙草商是否真的認為營銷電子煙產品，是一種能幫助大眾擺脫煙草商其他產品所造成傷害的方法，而且還真能奏效？坦白說，當你把這段話大聲說出來時，聽起來實在很荒謬。

最近，煙草商甚至更進一步善加利用新冠疫情造成的壓力時期操控大眾。煙草公司利用政府的「居家防疫」社交媒體主題標籤來推銷電子煙，有些煙草公司則參與以疫情為主題的電子煙及香煙促銷活動，例如購買煙草產品就免費贈送口罩。28 因此，在疫情期間香煙的銷量在20年來第一次上升，即使吸煙會增加新冠肺炎導致重病和死亡的可能。2930313233

煙草商一次又一次地證明，他們願意不惜一切代價賺取利潤，因此向公眾撒謊、資助自己的研究，並貪婪地將兒童當作目標群眾，繼續不斷地販賣奪人性命的產品。現在是時候應該追究他們的責任！

我們的活動

不平等的故事

當掠奪性的營銷偽裝成同情與支持25，更容易吸引在歷史上被排斥的群體。34

了解詳情 (英文網站)

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煙草商所造成的危害

煙草商目前耗資數十億美元在狡詐的營銷策略及政治影響力上，即使造成死亡與疾病也要獲利。3536
了解詳情
即使對於不使用煙草的人，也可能產生致命的後果。37
了解詳情
煙草商稱孩子們為「替代客戶」，38 而大煙草商更判處他們終生成癮與疾病。
了解詳情
具有種族主義的煙草商，策略性地以特定社區為目標，提供致命的產品及操控性的信息。39
了解詳情
有毒煙草廢棄物及所造成的塑料污染帶來環境破壞與健康風險，無人能免受其害。40414243444546
了解詳情
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追究煙草商責任

對於其他有害產品，加州已在保護大眾避免受到侵害，現在正是該以同樣標準對待煙草商的時候！4748
更多方式告訴煙草商你再也無法忍受！
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