BACKLASH

"The tobacco industry worked together since the early 1950s to create a pro-cigarette public relations campaign to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking to advance their collective interest to market cigarettes." -Michael K. Cummings, MD

(Stanford School of Medicine)

Dr. Hammond's findings were very controversial and drew harsh criticisms from the tobacco industry. Despite the pioneering structure of the studies, the cigarette companies pursued misinformation campaigns and fought to discredit Hammond's work. The Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC) published dubious articles and letters of rebuttal to minimize the impact of the studies connecting smoking to disease.

Tobacco Companies Fight Back

"As a result, the tobacco industry would launch a new strategy, largely unprecedented in the history of US industry and business: it would work to erode, confuse, and condemn the very science that now threatened to destroy its prized, highly popular, and exclusive product." -Allan Brandt

The tobacco companies dismissed the studies as unverified arguments, despite their true understanding of the health risks. They started misinformation campaigns stating that smoking was an issue of personal choice and not a corporate one. Between 1962-1965, the tobacco industries top executives bonded together and established the "Secret Six," a general counsel representing each company. This group focused on advising chief publicists and hiring young scientists to conduct their own studies and testify for the industry. Thus, tobacco companies had gained the ability to discredit studies such as the Hammond-Horn study. Furthermore, by creating a media-based product, the cigarette industry manipulated the public's trust to promote their product. In the 1980s, the cigarette companies took advantage of nicotine's addictive potential and increased the amounts in cigarettes, thus making it harder to quit smoking.

After studies tied cigarettes to disease, many cigarette companies began promoting filters as ways to safely smoke cigarettes in an attempt to combat these studies, despite the lack of protection provided by filters (Stanford School of Medicine).

Legacy