Observations on African Americans and other people of color and the significance of "race" in a (purportedly) colorblind world
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Do Cigarette Companies Target African Americans?
Yes, says LaTanisha Wright, a former executive with Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. According to Wright, Big Tobacco "targeted black communities and youth. They post many more billboards and signs in black communities than in white communities."
In her comments, La Tanisha Wright, National States Director for the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network makes a number of rhetorical claims about tobacco companies.
Unfortunately for her and her organization, her claims are simply wrong. As the maker of Newport cigarettes we should know. The facts are important – and here they are.
In the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the state Attorneys General, Lorillard agreed to severely limit its marketing practices, including an agreement not to directly or indirectly market our products to youth. The agreement, among other actions and measures, has achieved the lowest level of youth smoking in recorded history.
Lorillard and all of the other major tobacco companies stopped advertising on billboards, in arenas, stadiums, shopping malls, or on other large signs more than a decade ago. Ms. Wright simply has it wrong when she says we are posting billboards in African American neighborhoods to induce youths to smoke. Just because she says we are doesn’t make it so. The fact is that youth smoking rates are down and that African American youth smoke at a much lower rate than white youth.
1 comment:
In her comments, La Tanisha Wright, National States Director for the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network makes a number of rhetorical claims about tobacco companies.
Unfortunately for her and her organization, her claims are simply wrong. As the maker of Newport cigarettes we should know. The facts are important – and here they are.
In the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the state Attorneys General, Lorillard agreed to severely limit its marketing practices, including an agreement not to directly or indirectly market our products to youth. The agreement, among other actions and measures, has achieved the lowest level of youth smoking in recorded history.
Lorillard and all of the other major tobacco companies stopped advertising on billboards, in arenas, stadiums, shopping malls, or on other large signs more than a decade ago. Ms. Wright simply has it wrong when she says we are posting billboards in African American neighborhoods to induce youths to smoke. Just because she says we are doesn’t make it so. The fact is that youth smoking rates are down and that African American youth smoke at a much lower rate than white youth.
It’s time to set the record straight.
Posted on behalf of Lorillard Tobacco Company
Post a Comment