Creative actions to counter the tobacco industry -- a worldwide tour!

[Anna White]

Dear Friends,

At long last, here is the compilation of responses to October's question
re: creative actions to counter the tobacco industry! In the compilation
you will find multiple examples of strategies for countering tobacco
industry public relations campaigns, e.g. BAT's "social responsibility"
program (Bangladesh), Lorillard's bogus "Tobacco is Whacko" program
(USA-MN), BAT's tree planting initiative (Sri Lanka), and Phillip
Morris's "Bill of Rights" Tour (USA).  You will also find strategies for
countering tobacco industry marketing practices, e.g. distribution of
free tobacco products (USA-WA, Sri Lanka) and tobacco placement in
pharmacies (USA-WA), as well as strategies for educating the public and
policymakers about tobacco-related issues, e.g. community events and
exhibitions to support ratification of FCTC (Bangladesh, Togo, Vietnam),
and youth activities focused on secondhand smoke and cigarette
ingredients (USA-WI). Specific media-oriented strategies are also
included, e.g. a journalist workshop and competition (Uruguay), and a
shocking newspaper insert (Uganda).

It is important to note that most of these creative activities cost
little or nothing to carry out.  Also inspiring is the active
involvement of youth in many of the cases. We hope this compilation will
lead to further cross-pollination of ideas across borders!

************************************************
CREATIVE ACTIONS TO COUNTER THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY
               A Worldwide Tour
************************************************

Examples are listed in alphabetical order by country/state.

BANGLADESH: BATA DEMONSTRATION AGAINST BAT "SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY"
PROGRAM
Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance (BATA) held a rally and demonstration
-- featuring a symbolic coffin and anti-tobacco chants -- in front of
Jahangir Tower at Kawran Bazar in the Dhaka in July 2003 to protest
British American Tobacco (BAT)'s "Corporate Social Responsibility
Dialogue" in Bangladesh. Alliance leaders sent letters and made phone
calls to the invitees, urging intellectuals and policy planners to
boycott the so-called dialogue between BAT and stakeholders. "What
issues can be discussed with a business organization, which deals in a
death-commodity?" they asked. BATA considered this BAT-sponsored
dialogue to be another sophisticated move to fool and confuse people,
with the ultimate purpose of derailing efforts to pass effective tobacco
control legislation in the country.
    The leaders referred to various diseases caused by smoking and how
tobacco leads many people to death every day, noting that tobacco
companies obviously could care less about such people since they
continue to pursue the expansion of their business. However, the leaders
said that they had "seen that at least some policy makers and other
high-level people will respond to a call from society to stand up to
BAT."
    Those actively participated in the demonstration included Bangladesh
Paribesh Andolan, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Manobik, Institute of Allergy
and Clinical Immunology of Bangladesh, Hunger Free World, Adventures
Association of Bangladesh, UCEP, Welfare Association for Cancer Care,
Law and Society Trust of Bangladesh, Hunger Project and Work for a
Better Bangladesh.
See photo: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/bd/rally.jpg
-- Tahin, Work for a Better Bangladesh

BANGLADESH: BATA ACTIVITIES FOR WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2003
BATA ran  a series of events to celebrate WNTD and push its demand for
the rapid enactment of a comprehensive and strong tobacco control law in
Bangladesh, and ratification of the FCTC.  As you can see, having an
alliance helps make many more activities possible than if we were acting
alone!
On 7 and 14 May, Hunger Project and Hunger-Free World held protests
demanding a tobacco control law.
On 9 May, Adventure Association of Bangladesh held a rally with a banner
draped over a coffin with the slogan:  "Every 8 seconds someone dies
from tobacco.  How many more people need to die before we get a law?"
The rally was covered in 19 newspapers and two national TV stations.
On 19 May, MANOBIK and Rotary Club jointly held a program, "Youth
Involvement in Tobacco Control", which received widespread newspaper
coverage.
On 23 May, Alo Bhuban Gori held a protest demanding a tobacco control
law, which was  covered in 19 newspapers.
On 26 May, Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) held a press conference
calling for a large increase in tobacco taxes.  The demand received a
good deal of extensive coverage in at least 15 newspapers.
Rally on 31 May:  About 20 different organizations held a rally in the
morning, marching in Dhaka bearing coffins and crosses from which hang
shirts, to symbolize the dead from tobacco.  Pinned on the shirts were
signs saying "Dead from tobacco", while a slogan, "No people, only the
shirts are there; We make the demand, but the law is where?"  (It reads
a bit more smoothly in Bengali!)
Seminar on 31 May:  In the afternoon a seminar was organized by BATA.
The speakers included the Health Minister, Health Secretary,
Director-General of Health Services, Director-General of Family
Planning, the Coordinator of BATA, the President of the Consumers'
Association of Bangladesh, the Executive Director of Dhaka Ahsania
Mission, and the Country Director of Hunger-Free World.  The Health
Minister was congratulated and awarded a prize for his role in chairing
the WHA during the approval of the FCTC.
-- Work for a Better Bangladesh

SRI LANKA: YOUTH COUNTER TOBACCO INDUSTRY'S ENVIRONMENTAL PR CAMPAIGN
Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) recently distributed plants free of charge
and in mass scale. They got the assistance of another environment
organization to carry out this activity.
See related advertising supplement in Daily News (October 15, 2003):
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/lk/trees4.jpg
     A youth organization affiliated with the Alcohol and Drug
Information Center (ADIC) organized a mobile exhibition to counteract
CTC's campaign. There were video shows revealing the truth about CTC's
propaganda activities and posters highlighting how CTC damages the
environment. Leaflets about CTC were also distributed. These youth
groups are educating all the environmental organizations and farmers'
organizations that CTC is trying to gain popularity in this manner.
     In Kandy, CTC posted signs to promote the company's favorable
environment activities. Here is a photo of a youth counteracting this
strategy, by writing a message on the CTC sign that says the company is
doing the reverse to the environment.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/lk/youth.jpg
-- Manjari Peiris, Journalist

SRI LANKA: YOUTH CHALLENGE FREE CIGARETTE DISTRIBUTION
On October 19th, Ceylon Tobacco Company representatives distributed Gold
Leaf cigarettes free of charge in the Polonnaruwa area. A youth group
who was there made the general public aware that CTC is trying to induce
youth to smoke by distributing free cigarettes. The people who were in
the vicinity counteracted CTC. As such, CTC had to suspend its programme
and go away.
-- Manjari Peiris, Journalist

TOGO: NATIONAL TOUR EDUCATES ABOUT TOBACCO INDUSTRY, NATIONAL LAW & FCTC

On February 12, 2003, a national tour was organized to educate people
about the threat of the tobacco industry in Togo and the need to adopt
the national anti-tobacco law which has "slept" in Parliament since
2002.  The tour covered all 5 economic regions of Togo and 30
prefectures. The events featured a festival atmosphere and various
community leaders' speeches re: their desire to see the country take the
necessary legislative and legal steps to reduce tobacco consumption and
imports.  The populations invited the authorities to vote on the
national law as soon as possible. See photos:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/tg/ongance1.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/tg/ongance7.jpg
    In May 2003, ANCE/TOGO also organized a large campaign for the
signature of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The
campaign mobilized thousands of citizens and consisted of various
events, including educational meetings on the FCTC, the dangers of
tobacco to health, the cost of treating tobacco-related disease, and the
necessity of signing & ratifying the FCTC. Radio and television
transmissions marked this day, as did the private and state press.
See photos:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/tg/ongance2.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/tg/ongance3.jpg
-- EBEH Adayade Kodjo, Association Nationale des Consommateurs et de
l=92Environnement

UGANDA: NEWSPAPER INSERT CAUSES MEDIA STIR
We recently ran an insert in a local daily of 35,000 circulation. It
featured the smoker's body poster with a translation into the most
widely spoken local language. On the flip side of it was introductory
text on the FCTC taken from the FCA website. We had lots of fun and it
was a shocker to many people. It dominated many of the airwaves for the
morning.
View poster: http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/smokers_fr_en.pdf
-- Phillip Karugaba, The Environmental Action Network

USA - TX: "NICOTINA" TOUR CHALLENGES PHILIP MORRIS "BILL OF RIGHTS" TOUR

In 1989 Philip Morris rented (bought off) the Virginia copy of the US
Bill of Rights (BOR). They put it a caravan to tour the country to
celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. They invited
public officials, the public and school kids to tour the rolling
exhibit. They collected the names and addresses of thousands of school
kids as they signed in for the exhibit. View Philip Morris sign for
tour:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ustx/bor89d.jpg
...the armored car that transported the BOR:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ustx/bor89e.jpg
... and an ironic warning sign:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ustx/bor89f.jpg
      So Washington DOC designed and created a statue of Nicotina. The
statue was about 10 feet tall with the base and was modeled on the
Statue of Liberty. The statue was designed to be taken apart so it could
be moved relatively easily . It had an electronic death counter in the
base that counted off the number of Americans that had died from tobacco
since the BOR tour started. There was also a clear plastic box at the
base that contained packs of cigarettes illegally bought by minors in
Seattle, Washington. See photo:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ustx/bor89g.jpg
      Washington DOC, national DOC, Smokefree Pennsylvania, New Jersey
GASP and others followed the tour throughout the country, attempting to
arrive ahead of the BOR tour itself. We tried to set up the statue as
close as possible to the BOR exhibit site. We made sure we had the
necessary permits to stage the protest ahead of the BOR tour. It was
nice of them to give us a  list of the tour sites so we could plan
ahead. We invited media and as many friends as possible to the counter
protest. Media response was mixed from city to city, but was generally
very good. We followed the tour across the country and the PM executive
who was in charge of the plan was fired. View photo of Eric Solberg,
former Exec Dtr of DOC, at the Houston stop:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ustx/bor89a.jpg
Houston coalition with Nicotina:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ustx/bor89c.jpg
Dr. Joel Dunnington handing out pamphlets to the school kids who were
bussed in to look at the show. Most of the teachers did not know that
Philip Morris was the maker of Marlboro and sponsor of the tour:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ustx/bor89h.jpg
Short USA Today article:
http://tobaccodocuments.org/ai_news/26043.html?pattern=3D%22bill+of+rights+=
tour%22#images

Advocacy Institute Paper on the BOR tour:
http://tobaccodocuments.org/atc/71013549.pdf
Mike Perchuck article on BOR tour:
http://tobaccodocuments.org/ness/26943.pdf
-- Joel Dunnington, U.T.M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

USA - MN:  OPERATION SHOT BLOCK
Event: NBA (National Basketball Association) Hoop-It-Up Tour
Target: Lorillard=92s Youth Tobacco Prevention Program, =93Tobacco is
Whacko=85if you=92re a teen=94
Venue: Rapid Park Parking Lot, Minneapolis
Summary:
Phase 1: A four-person team consisting of TM members from Hennepin
County registered under the name =93The Hennepin Hottiez=94 to play in the
16-and-under category.  The team wore jerseys that they designed with
the TM logo and with player names like "Lucky Strikes" "Virginia Slims",
"Joe Camel", and "Marlboro Man". Their jersey numbers were as follows:
> 5056 (MN Big Tobacco Addiction Quota)
> 13,700 (Number of kids who become new daily smokers each year)
> 19.7 Million (Packs of cigarettes that are bought or smoked by
Minnesota kids-under 18-each year)
> 112,000 (Estimated number of Minnesota kids-currently under 18 who
will die prematurely from smoking)
Check out a shirt:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/usmn/hiuteamshirts.jpg
Check out the basketball court:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/usmn/hiucourt.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/usmn/hiucourt2.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/usmn/hiucourt3.jpg
Phase 2: Dressed in Yellow and White Biohazard Suits spray-painted with
TM=92s Logo, 3 Target Market members infiltrated the NBA Hoop It Up on
July 21st.  They began by passing out copies of Lorillard Documents and
a flyer that evaluated and deconstructed the messages of the Tobacco is
Whacko program.  We were promptly met by one of the event=92s coordinators
and asked to leave citing the =93suits and flyers.=94  When asked why the
suits were in question, the event coordinator told the teens that he
(the event coordinator) could tell them how to dress.
Phase 3: TM members went underground as =93average teenagers=94 to continue
passing out flyers, documents, and TM postcards.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/usmn/hiuwhacko.jpg
Phase 4: TM Banners were put up on the adjacent overpasses.  The banners
were taken down by Mpls Fire Department and given to one of the Event
Coordinators.  They were later kept in the referee tent.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/usmn/hiustandup.jpg
Phase 5: TM members took more banners to hold against the fence on the
overpass. They were approached by the Mpls Police stating that they
required a permit from the City of Mpls.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/usmn/hiutmbanner2.jpg
Phase 6:  The TM Van arrived and parked in the parking lot.  During a
short discussion with the Event Coordinators, one of them said,
=93Anything that is Anti-Lorillard cannot be allowed here.=94 So the van
staff reportedly handed out as much TM gear as they could before they
were approached again by event staff and asked to leave.
-- Pogi Sumangil, Target Market (July 2002)

USA - WA: RALLY COUNTERS FREE DISTRIBUTION OF SPIT TOBACCO
We held a rally in front of a Bellingham bar (Quarterback Pub) that was
scheduled to hand out free spit tobacco on the particularly terrible
anniversary day, 9/11/02. We had posters offering free tobacco cessation
info and products, and gave out a few to patrons and one employee. One
poster read "We remember the 3,000 killed on 9/11, AND the 3,000
Americans killed every 3 days by tobacco."
    We sent a letter to the US Smokeless Tobacco Company, from the
hospital Cancer Committee,
denouncing these tobacco promotion "Cancer Promotion" nights, and
calling for an end to them. As expected, no response, but the tobacco
company rep was a no-show that night! There were several nights they did
not show up in the following months. I have not checked recently. They
hold these events at the bars closest to the university, on the nights
most popular with students.
-- Chris Covert-Bowlds, COMMIT for a Tobacco Free Whatcom County

USA - WA: QUIT SMOKING RALLY CHALLENGES CHEAPER CIGARETTES
We held a rally in front of the grand opening of the newest "Cigarettes
Cheaper" store. The store had sent out mailers to many Bellingham homes
WITHOUT smokers, promising price reductions and free T-shirts to the
first certain number of customers. So we were there 30 minutes BEFORE
opening, with our "Cigarettes Cheaper =3D Death Cheaper", etc signs, with
names of loved ones dead from tobacco. Also with "Free Quit Smoking Help
Here!" signs, giving away free tobacco cessation medications, coupons,
and information. We did a brisk business with their customers, many
gladly accepting help for tackling their addiction, while still going in
for a cheap fix. One old timer even sang "Smoke, smoke, smoke that
cigarette!" song to my kids, after which he admonished them they should
not smoke because it's so unhealty. Since then, that store has closed
down!
    We held our "Kick Butts Day" rally April 2001 in front of one of the
other Cigarettes Cheaper store in town, giving out free quit smoking
help. One of us wore the big "Mr Butts" cigarette costume, which always
gets lots of attention, including the local TV station again. A woman
charged over, enraged to see the cigarette store was so blatantly
advertising, until she realized that the giant cigarette was the
anti-tobacco attention-getter. Several "cool" smokers gave us a hard
time, saying "Smoking is good for you!", etc, but eventually softening
their line, and accepting some quit smoking information and free
medication samples.
-- Chris Covert-Bowlds, COMMIT for a Tobacco Free Whatcom County

USA - WA: PHARMACY URGED TO PLACE CIGARETTES BEHIND COUNTER, STOP
SELLING ALTOGETHER
We held a rally on Kick Butts Day of 2000 in front of the Rite Aid
pharmacy in downtown Bellingham, where the cigarettes are displayed next
to the candy bars, to make them easy to steal and get kids hooked. I had
sent a letter to the manager, who wanted them behind the counter/harder
to steal, but was stuck with the corporate contract with the tobacco
companies. In the letter, I requested the tobacco be put behind the
counter, or we would have a protest rally the following week. Several
days later, he called me, and faxed me a letter he had gotten back from
corp headquarters in Pennsylvania, telling all stores in Washington
state to put all tobacco products behind the counter. So we had our
rally, instead thanking Rite Aid for at least keeping tobacco products
behind the counter, harder to steal, and urging them to quit selling
tobacco products competely. Rite Aid bought out the Payless chain of
pharmacies in Washington state years ago, and promptly added tobacco
products, which Payless had never sold. So there is an ongoing effort to
get tobacco products out of all pharmacies. I asked the national Rite
Aid PR person whether limiting their response to our state meant that I
should encourage all my tobacco control colleagues nationwide to start
similar efforts, and she thought not, but I responded that it seemed
like the natural response to their limited action.
-- Chris Covert-Bowlds, COMMIT for a Tobacco Free Whatcom County

USA - WI: YOUTH RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT SECOND-HAND SMOKE & CIGARETTE
INGREDIENTS
FACT (Fighting Against Corporate Tobacco) sponsored a large rally for
Milwaukee and the surrounding areas in the summer of 2002. The rally
consisted of youth-led speeches, games revolving around statistics and
facts (ex: Jeopardy with tobacco statistics), a march, and small
presentations.  My coalition in Franklin put together a presentation on
second-hand smoke. The presentation was silent in terms of speaking;
only music was heard during the 3 minutes or so we were on stage.  2
other girls and I each had a stack of posterboards that we  took with us
onstage.  Of the 3 boards, 2 would have facts about second-hand smoke
(SHS is the 3rd leading cause of preventable death), and the other would
have a completely random fact (Bart Simpon's voice is done by a woman).
As we set down the posters to reveal a new one, the random fact would
appear in a different pile, urging everyone to read all the signs,
learn, and laugh at the same time.  We slowly increased our speed as
time went by.  See photos:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/uswi/signs1.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/uswi/signs2.jpg
Another activity the Franklin Youth Coalition was a minigrant entitled
It'll Kill Ya, which encompassed an entire week of tobacco
awareness/prevention activities.  One of the most memorable events was
when we took pictures of Franklin High School students pretending to
consume some of the ingredients found in cigarettes (lighter fluid,
rubber cement, wax candle, etc) and then put these on posters with
explanations and statistics on them. See photos:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/uswi/rubbercement.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/uswi/rubbingalcohol.jpg
-- Lynn Grochowski, FACT Southeast Representative - Franklin Youth
Coalition

URUGUAY: WORKSHOP EDUCATES JOURNALISTS ABOUT TOBACCO INDUSTRY, PROMOTES
COMPETITION
We recently organized a workshop for Uruguayan journalists in our
organization's building. We invited national journalists representing
print, radio and television media from Montevideo and from other cities
from Uruguay (Canelones, Minas , Rivera , etc).  We also invited
students from journalism schools. The purpose was educate them about the
real purpose of the tobacco industry (the lies) and to promote a
competition for the best piece (in any media) about tobacco comsumption
and the FCTC. The winner will be awarded $1000 (US)
-- Adriana Men=E9ndez, Sindicato M=E9dico del Uruguay

VIETNAM: EXHIBITION SUPPORTS FCTC RATIFICATION
We prepared a week-long Exhibition on Tobacco control and the FCTC in
Hanoi in early November, in an attempt to raise awareness among
consumers and policymakers about tobacco control and the FCTC, and to
speed up the FCTC ratification process in Vietnam.  Our exhibition was
composed of three parts: 1) The dangers of tobacco. 2) The Vietnamese
government policy on tobacco control. 3) The FCTC. The main purposes of
the exhibition were to raise awareness  of tobacco's harm to smokers and
non smokers; to educate people about the stringent policy of the
government on tobacco control; to understand the FCTC and the importance
of an early ratification of the treaty. The FCTC exhibition part is
mostly based on the Handbook on FCTC Ratification of Infact. The
exhibition was organized by VINASTAS, with the participation of WHO
office in Vietnam, VINACOSH of Vietnam, PATH Canada in Vietnam and Hanoi
K Hospital.
-- Do Gia Phan, VINASTAS

---------------------------------------
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action
P.O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: +1 202-387-8030
Fax: +1 202-234-5176
Email: tobacco@essential.org
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco