We Are Smokin’ Now!

According to a past issue of Adbusters Magazine (July/August 2001), “in order to be a fully informed citizen we need to know the entire story.” Looking below the surface is not often easy, but with the existence of independent media we can assist each other to discover more of the truth.
Case in point: In recent days the tobacco industry, and specifically Philip Morris, has come up with a new plan to keep citizens tied to it in subtle and creative ways. Adbusters goes on to explain that this company has initiated a campaign to position the company name in advertisements, sandwiched between bedrock-solid food brands that most households feel an allegiance toward and love.
With the acquisition of Post Raisin Bran, Kraft Miracle Whip, Jell-O, Maxwell House, Kraft Dinners, Kool-Aid, Miller Beer, and Nabisco by Philip Morris, we can now purchase a lot of our food from a tobacco company (list of products from Adbusters March/April 2001). To further hide the tobacco industry connection, Philip Morris has plans to change its food subsidiary name to “Altria”. New name but same deadly game!
Why should we care? Maybe because 4,000,000 people worldwide die each year from tobacco-related illnesses. Do we really want to buy our food from a tobacco company?