Big tobacco's dirty tricks. Seven key tactics of the tobacco industry

The tobacco industry has been influencing public opinion and disrupting health policy through sophisticated and deceptive methods for decades. As evidence has mounted supporting the undisputed deadly effects of tobacco products, corporations have found ways to remain profitable. They have succeeded in attracting enough new smokers to support industry growth, despite the fact that over 8 million tobacco-related deaths occur annually. The sphere of influence of multi-billion- dollar tobacco companies extends to the fields of scientific research, politics, law, sport, education and the media. Members of the Tobacco Control Working Group of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) reviewed the literature and conducted research into key tactics used by the tobacco industry, producing written reports on seven of these: 1) Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, 2) Front groups, 3) Manipulating the media, 4) Funding scientific research, 5) Political lobbying, 6) Electronic alternatives as ‘harm reduction’, and 7) Legal challenges. Each tactic, including examples of their occurrence and recommendations on how to recognize and counteract them, are comprehensively explored in the casebook Big Tobacco’s Dirty Tricks which can be accessed at the link provided1. This article summarizes the seven tactics discussed in the casebook.