American Legacy Foundation Tobacco Education Campaign- the Truth
thetruth.com, 2005
(you have to click "select all" and then "view" if you want to see all of these facts at once)
1. "Every day, cows release methane gas into the air. From you know where. But methane is also found somewhere else. Yesiree, in cigarette smoke."
2. Every year, tobacco-related disease kills over 178,000 women.
3. 63% of high school smokers say they want to quit.
4. There are 8.5 million people sick with diseases caused by smoking.
5. About 1/3 of youth smokers will eventually die from a tobacco-related disease.
6. In the U.S., about 440,000 people die a tobacco-related death every year.
7. About 90% of lung cancer deaths among women who continue to smoke are tobacco related.
8. A tobacco company once gave $125,000 worth of food to a charity, according to an estimate by The Wall Street Journal. Then they spent well over $21 million telling people about it. I guess, when you sell a deadly, addictive product, you need all the good PR you can get.
9. Babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to be underweight.
10. By the year 2020, tobacco is projected to kill about 10 million people a year worldwide.
11. Carbon monoxide is in tobacco smoke.
12. As late as 1999, tobacco companies placed in-store advertising signage at a child’s eye level.
13. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds.
14. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S.
15. Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the number one cause of fire deaths in the U.S.
16. Cigarette companies advertised “light” cigarettes as less harmful to the smoker, although they can deliver the same levels of tar and nicotine.
17. According to one tobacco company VP, in 2001, a company name change could focus attention away from tobacco.
18. Every 8 seconds, someone in the world dies from a smoking-related disease.
19. Every day, cows release methane gas into the air. From you know where. But methane is also found somewhere else. Yesiree, in cigarette smoke.
20. Every day, about 1,500 youth become daily smokers.
21. Every single day, in the U.S., the tobacco industry spends about $42 million on advertising and promotions.
22. Every year, cigarettes leave about 12,000 kids motherless.
23. Every year, cigarettes leave about 31,000 kids fatherless.
24. Every day, about 3,900 youth ages 12 to 17 try a cigarette for the first time.
25. How do infants avoid secondhand smoke? "At some point they begin to crawl."
-- Tobacco Executive, 1996
26. Hydrogen cyanide has been used in prison executions. It's also found in cigarettes smoke.
27. There’s hydrogen cyanide in rat poison. The same stuff is in cigarette smoke.
28. In 1974, a tobacco company explored targeting customers as young as 14.
29. In 1984, a tobacco company called young adults “replacement smokers.”
30. In 1986, a tobacco company's ad agency wrote to a newspaper complaining about the placement of their ad next to obituaries. They said: "We feel that this positioning was detrimental to our advertising efforts…"
31. In 1989, millions of cases of imported fruit were banned after a small amount of cyanide was found in just two grapes. There’s 33 times more cyanide in a single cigarette.
32. In 1993, the Supreme Court decided that an inmate could sue a prison claiming that exposure to his cellmate's secondhand smoke could constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
33. In 1995, a major tobacco company decided to boost cigarette sales by targeting homeless people. They called their plan “Project SCUM: Sub Culture Urban Marketing.” A tobacco company once donated 7,000 blankets to homeless shelters in Brooklyn.
34. A Big Tobacco executive once said, under oath, that he believed Gummi Bears were addictive like cigarettes.
35. In 2002, U.S. consumers spent about $88.2 billion on tobacco products.
36. In 1985, one tobacco vice president said in reference to smoking-related deaths, “People die in their beds, therefore, should we ban sleep?”
37. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to M&Ms.
38. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to that of television.
39. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to coffee.
40. In the U.S., about 50,000 people die each year from secondhand-smoke-related disease.
41. Tobacco kills more Americans than auto accidents, homicide, AIDS, drugs and fires combined.
42. Today, in the U.S., tobacco products will kill about 1,200 people.
43. Maternal smoking during pregnancy and exposure to secondhand smoke in infancy doubles the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
44. More than 85% of the "top 25" films from 1988-1997 contained tobacco use, and 70%25 of those
included brand appearances. Brand appearances were as common in films for teen audiences as for
adult audiences and were also present in 20% of those rated for children.
45. Nicotine has been found in the breast milk of smokers.
46. One tobacco company secretly developed a strain of tobacco they named "Y1" that contained 50% more nicotine.
47. In 1994, one tobacco company reported finding “insect infestation” in their cigarettes.
48. In 1989, one tobacco company brainstormed selling its product from ice cream trucks that drive
through neighborhoods.
49. In 1989, one tobacco company’s ideas for reaching minority customers included to “be seen as a friend,” “build on black history” and “help them find jobs.” But they thought that this support shouldn’t be seen as “a big white company’s tactic to sell to blacks.”
50. In 1985, a tobacco brainstorming session came up with the idea of reaching their “younger adult smokers” in candy stores.
51. In 1993, one tobacco company executive thought it would be a good idea to have his employees mail "grassroots" complaints to airlines about their smoking bans, pretending to be regular customers.
52. Pee contains urea. So do cigarettes.
53. “Problems with self-esteem” “Has menial boring job” “Emotionally insecure” “Passive-aggressive” “Grooming not a strong priority” “Lacks inner resources”
These are all terms taken from Big Tobacco’s files that have been used to describe different groups of potential customers for their deadly, addictive products.
54. Radioactive polonium-210 is found in cigarette smoke.
55. Since 1964, there have been 12 million tobacco-related deaths in the U.S.
56. Smoking can lead to cataracts, the number one cause of vision loss in the world.
57. Smoking during pregnancy results in the deaths of about 900 infants every year in the U.S.
58. Sunburns can cause wrinkles; so can cigarettes.
59. Because of the tobacco industry’s products, about 339 people in the U.S. die of lung cancer every day.
60. The impact of nicotine is jacked up because tobacco companies add ammonia to cigarettes.
61. The tobacco industry increased its spending on advertisements and promotions by $2.7 billion between 2002 and 2003.
62. Tobacco companies actually went to court to fight for the right to keep tobacco advertising near high schools. They won. Congrats, Big Tobacco!
63. Tobacco companies have been targeting women with their advertising for the last 70 years.
64. In 1997, one tobacco company CEO said he would probably "instantly" shut his doors if it was proven to his satisfaction that smoking causes cancer. That same company now admits on their website that smoking causes cancer, but they’re still open for business.
65. On its website, one tobacco company lists “cancer services” as one of the community programs they support. Yet they continue to make a product that leads to 339 deaths from lung cancer each day.
66. Soups, cereals and other products we consume have to list ingredients on their labels, but cigarettes, a product that kills a third of its users, are not required to list any of the 599 possible additives.
Source: TheTruth.com
thetruth.com, 2005
(you have to click "select all" and then "view" if you want to see all of these facts at once)
1. "Every day, cows release methane gas into the air. From you know where. But methane is also found somewhere else. Yesiree, in cigarette smoke."
2. Every year, tobacco-related disease kills over 178,000 women.
3. 63% of high school smokers say they want to quit.
4. There are 8.5 million people sick with diseases caused by smoking.
5. About 1/3 of youth smokers will eventually die from a tobacco-related disease.
6. In the U.S., about 440,000 people die a tobacco-related death every year.
7. About 90% of lung cancer deaths among women who continue to smoke are tobacco related.
8. A tobacco company once gave $125,000 worth of food to a charity, according to an estimate by The Wall Street Journal. Then they spent well over $21 million telling people about it. I guess, when you sell a deadly, addictive product, you need all the good PR you can get.
9. Babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to be underweight.
10. By the year 2020, tobacco is projected to kill about 10 million people a year worldwide.
11. Carbon monoxide is in tobacco smoke.
12. As late as 1999, tobacco companies placed in-store advertising signage at a child’s eye level.
13. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds.
14. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S.
15. Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the number one cause of fire deaths in the U.S.
16. Cigarette companies advertised “light” cigarettes as less harmful to the smoker, although they can deliver the same levels of tar and nicotine.
17. According to one tobacco company VP, in 2001, a company name change could focus attention away from tobacco.
18. Every 8 seconds, someone in the world dies from a smoking-related disease.
19. Every day, cows release methane gas into the air. From you know where. But methane is also found somewhere else. Yesiree, in cigarette smoke.
20. Every day, about 1,500 youth become daily smokers.
21. Every single day, in the U.S., the tobacco industry spends about $42 million on advertising and promotions.
22. Every year, cigarettes leave about 12,000 kids motherless.
23. Every year, cigarettes leave about 31,000 kids fatherless.
24. Every day, about 3,900 youth ages 12 to 17 try a cigarette for the first time.
25. How do infants avoid secondhand smoke? "At some point they begin to crawl."
-- Tobacco Executive, 1996
26. Hydrogen cyanide has been used in prison executions. It's also found in cigarettes smoke.
27. There’s hydrogen cyanide in rat poison. The same stuff is in cigarette smoke.
28. In 1974, a tobacco company explored targeting customers as young as 14.
29. In 1984, a tobacco company called young adults “replacement smokers.”
30. In 1986, a tobacco company's ad agency wrote to a newspaper complaining about the placement of their ad next to obituaries. They said: "We feel that this positioning was detrimental to our advertising efforts…"
31. In 1989, millions of cases of imported fruit were banned after a small amount of cyanide was found in just two grapes. There’s 33 times more cyanide in a single cigarette.
32. In 1993, the Supreme Court decided that an inmate could sue a prison claiming that exposure to his cellmate's secondhand smoke could constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
33. In 1995, a major tobacco company decided to boost cigarette sales by targeting homeless people. They called their plan “Project SCUM: Sub Culture Urban Marketing.” A tobacco company once donated 7,000 blankets to homeless shelters in Brooklyn.
34. A Big Tobacco executive once said, under oath, that he believed Gummi Bears were addictive like cigarettes.
35. In 2002, U.S. consumers spent about $88.2 billion on tobacco products.
36. In 1985, one tobacco vice president said in reference to smoking-related deaths, “People die in their beds, therefore, should we ban sleep?”
37. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to M&Ms.
38. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to that of television.
39. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to coffee.
40. In the U.S., about 50,000 people die each year from secondhand-smoke-related disease.
41. Tobacco kills more Americans than auto accidents, homicide, AIDS, drugs and fires combined.
42. Today, in the U.S., tobacco products will kill about 1,200 people.
43. Maternal smoking during pregnancy and exposure to secondhand smoke in infancy doubles the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
44. More than 85% of the "top 25" films from 1988-1997 contained tobacco use, and 70%25 of those
included brand appearances. Brand appearances were as common in films for teen audiences as for
adult audiences and were also present in 20% of those rated for children.
45. Nicotine has been found in the breast milk of smokers.
46. One tobacco company secretly developed a strain of tobacco they named "Y1" that contained 50% more nicotine.
47. In 1994, one tobacco company reported finding “insect infestation” in their cigarettes.
48. In 1989, one tobacco company brainstormed selling its product from ice cream trucks that drive
through neighborhoods.
49. In 1989, one tobacco company’s ideas for reaching minority customers included to “be seen as a friend,” “build on black history” and “help them find jobs.” But they thought that this support shouldn’t be seen as “a big white company’s tactic to sell to blacks.”
50. In 1985, a tobacco brainstorming session came up with the idea of reaching their “younger adult smokers” in candy stores.
51. In 1993, one tobacco company executive thought it would be a good idea to have his employees mail "grassroots" complaints to airlines about their smoking bans, pretending to be regular customers.
52. Pee contains urea. So do cigarettes.
53. “Problems with self-esteem” “Has menial boring job” “Emotionally insecure” “Passive-aggressive” “Grooming not a strong priority” “Lacks inner resources”
These are all terms taken from Big Tobacco’s files that have been used to describe different groups of potential customers for their deadly, addictive products.
54. Radioactive polonium-210 is found in cigarette smoke.
55. Since 1964, there have been 12 million tobacco-related deaths in the U.S.
56. Smoking can lead to cataracts, the number one cause of vision loss in the world.
57. Smoking during pregnancy results in the deaths of about 900 infants every year in the U.S.
58. Sunburns can cause wrinkles; so can cigarettes.
59. Because of the tobacco industry’s products, about 339 people in the U.S. die of lung cancer every day.
60. The impact of nicotine is jacked up because tobacco companies add ammonia to cigarettes.
61. The tobacco industry increased its spending on advertisements and promotions by $2.7 billion between 2002 and 2003.
62. Tobacco companies actually went to court to fight for the right to keep tobacco advertising near high schools. They won. Congrats, Big Tobacco!
63. Tobacco companies have been targeting women with their advertising for the last 70 years.
64. In 1997, one tobacco company CEO said he would probably "instantly" shut his doors if it was proven to his satisfaction that smoking causes cancer. That same company now admits on their website that smoking causes cancer, but they’re still open for business.
65. On its website, one tobacco company lists “cancer services” as one of the community programs they support. Yet they continue to make a product that leads to 339 deaths from lung cancer each day.
66. Soups, cereals and other products we consume have to list ingredients on their labels, but cigarettes, a product that kills a third of its users, are not required to list any of the 599 possible additives.
Source: TheTruth.com
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