Source: The Wall Street Journal
In 2001, when I was in Prague, we were approached by the tobacco industry inquiring whether we would be interested in working on a campaign to get more young Czechs interested in American cigarettes.
The Czechs, like many people in former communist bloc countries, had long embraced cigarette smoking. However, as the country began evolving away from the old ways of thinking, fewer smokers were lighting up.
After the revolution, these countries were anxious to embrace Western ways of thinking and characteristics that came with them. Seeing an opportunity, tobacco companies aimed to remind young consumers that smoking was a cool thing to do especially if you wanted to appear to be embracing Western culture.
Source: Science Photo Library
Needless to say, I told my business partner that I had turned down the opportunity. He looked perplexed and somewhat frustrated, asking, “Why would you want us to turn down an opportunity to have a quarter-of-a-million-dollar engagement?”
“Because,” I replied, “I want to sleep at night and not feel that I had made a pact with the devil.”
Big Tobacco never gives up.
TODAY, THE LATEST THING IS INFLUENCERS WHOM MILLIONS OF GEN-ZS ARE VIEWING, BEGIN LIGHTING UP. New movies and popular entertainment platforms now show actors lighting up. Yes, sometimes it is a part of their roles, but it is also the latest attempt for Big Tobacco to sneak in product placement for the viewer to see and subconsciously believe that this is “what you are supposed to do.”
Source: Wall Street Journal
The sad reality, however remains that it is impossible for some companies to simply do the right thing if their bottom line is to survive.
If you are thinking about expanding into other business sectors, ask yourself: is this a business that helps or hurts our community? More importantly, how would I feel if my own children began using our product?