In the late 1990s, early 2000, the Czech health ministry came out with a report claiming that smoking’s costs outweighed its fiscal benefits.
In response to such a report, cigarette maker Philip Morris undertook its own study in an attempt to refute the health ministry.
As part of its study, Philip Morris estimated that one of the benefits of smoking was that the Czech government saved between 943 million and 1.2 billion korunas (about $24 million-to-$30 million) in health-care, pension, and public-housing costs due to the early deaths of smokers.
Yes, you read that right. Philip Morris claimed that one of the benefits of using its product was that people died early.
The Philip Morris report was unusual as historically, tobacco companies had disputed the link between smoking and early mortality, whereas the report used the early mortality as a selling point.
As you might imagine, there was a great deal of public backlash because of the results. Politicians, anti-smoking activists, economists, and watchdog groups condemned the report, pointing to its conclusions as evidence that Philip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company, was callous about the health of its customers.
It was a public relations disaster. The release of the report was viewed as a setback for Philip Morris which had been making charitable donations to improve its public image.
Philip Morris first tried to downplay the report, but eventually apologized:
For one of our tobacco companies to commission this study was not just a terrible mistake, it was wrong. All of us at Philip Morris, no matter where we work, are extremely sorry for this. No one benefits from the very real, serious and significant diseases caused by smoking. We understand the outrage that has been expressed and we sincerely regret this extraordinarily unfortunate incident. We will continue our best efforts to do the right thing in all our business, acknowledging mistakes when we make them and learning from them as we go forward.
Shocking enough to think that a company would release a report that shows its product leads to early death, but to then try and put a positive spin on it is beyond comprehension.
Sources:
*image from VeryWell Mind
I wonder if any of the analysts ever said “Hey, maybe this isn’t such a good idea…”
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You would think so…
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Live short and prosper. It’ll save the rest of us money.
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Live short and cough. That’s the basic message…
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Wow! As gaffes go, they don’t get much bigger than that.
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Agreed!
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Well, honestly, what do tobacco companies have to offer besides horrible side effects after years of debt and addiction?
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And no tobacco company will admit that!
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I’ve sometimes wondered if the coronavirus was leaked from the Chinese lab for the same purpose. After all, many more older people died from it than younger people. Look at all the money saved in pensions, all over the world.
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Hmmm… but then the vaccination companies make money by keeping people alive. It’s quite the back and forth…
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The vaccination companies make other medicine for old people. So it’s in their best interests to keep them alive.
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Exactly…
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Who is the head of their PR team?? How were they allowed to release that?
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Exactly! You have to wonder how this got approved!
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Honestly, it’s crazy because it must have gone through multiple people none of whom thought there would be an issue realising it!
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I thought the same thing – nobody thought this was a bad idea?
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Apparently not…
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Pretty shocking. I wonder what kind of vetting the study received at Phillip Morris. Maybe it was just low level. Or Phillip Morris management was just totally out of touch.
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Well in one sense the numbers are correct, but I’m not sure I would call the results a benefit…
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Death is most definitely not what I’d call a benefit. Phillip Morris would have a better argument in ancient Greece where death was considered a reward and the best gift a mortal could receive. I wonder if the Greeks considered homicide to be a crime.
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I don’t know much about Greek history, but that would seem a bit odd is murder was not considered a crime…
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Wow! Once again, just when you think you heard it all! You posted this so I would …smack my head.. before going to bed, didn’t you!
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It is crazy! Maybe the head smacking made it easier for you to fall asleep…
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Haha! Not sure that happened!
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Nasty stuff.
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well, they weren’t *technically* wrong. which is why theyre morally WRONG.
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Yes, the numbers may be correct, but I would not call the results a benefit.
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I think the report made a valid point. What they failed to calculate was the cost of treatment leading up to the early death.
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Yes, the numbers make sense. But a subsequent study by economist Hana Ross demonstrated that smoking deprived the Czech government budget of at least 14,455 mil CZK (or $373 million) annually, thus defeating the “death benefit” argument.
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Corporations have placed profits over people for so long, that although this is a blatantly egregious stance to take, it is just one of many companies who think this way. We allow companies to market and sell addictive things like nicotine and opioids, and then wonder why people simply can’t choose to stop. I won’t even go into what FB has known and was okay with if it continued to drive profits. But we can’t tax the consumption of FB. A sad state of affairs for sure!
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yes, FB just keeps looking worse and worse. It does have its benefits, but at some point you have to wonder if the cots outweigh the benefits…
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when greed and insanity have a child, you have this. only reason they apologized is that it was a pr nightmare, nothing to do with humanity or ethics.
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I agree; the apology was just for pr purposes…
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Wow! Blinded by greed. How deplorable this is. I don’t think that any apology can undo this.
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And I think the apology was insincere. After all, they continue to sell cigarettes, knowing it leads to early death…
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‘You’re never lonely with a Strand.’ Just dead!
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I had to look that one up. I saw that Strand was British cigarette company that used the line “You’re never alone with a Strand”. Your addendum is perfect…
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The one thing that advert did was kill the brand! I thought my addendum was pretty accurate 😉
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here is more of what I found, which you already knew:
The public associated smoking Strand cigarettes with being lonely and were put off from buying them. It is regarded as one of the most disastrous tobacco advertising campaigns of all time with only 0.3% of male smokers and 0.7% of female smokers ever buying a pack of Strand cigarettes.
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There have been more successful ad campaigns 😂
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wouldn’t be hard 🙂
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Shocking, funny and sad. Well done. I’m not a fan of activities that profit off of the vices of others. Do something that makes the world a little better – like Jim Borden does.
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it is a shame to see companies making money off such unhealthy products, and thanks for the compliment…
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It seems incredibly dumb that somebody would release such a report to the public.
And, I suspect everything gets leaked nowadays so it seems dumb even to release it privately.
But it is perfectly obvious that smoking causes early deaths, meaning the state has to pay less in age-related benefits. Questionnable, though, whether the state would actually save money, because these people would presumably incur massive healthcare costs on their way to an early grave.
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good point that they would save some money on future health costs and pensions, but then they would also lose all the tax money they could have collected from those smokers if they had loved longer.
but it is astounding that they would go public with such a report…
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it’s kinda one of those truths you’d rather not know, isn’t it? Incredible shortsighted of the tobacco company – by the sounds of things it was a subsidiary – not to think people would pick op on this angle. I bet that guy got a rubbish bonus 🤣
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I would hope several people got a rubbish bonus, or even better, left the company…
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It is strange that they thought the report would be well received, Jim.
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strange indeed; fro some companies, they get blinded by the numbers…
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I hope the mother of the guy who spearheaded the report took him behind the woodshed…
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he could use a few parental lessons…
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Perhaps more than a few…
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he might be behind the shed for a while! 🙂
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Haha!
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Stunning! I can’t think of a better word. 😦
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This is really an amazing article, it’s sad that many people won’t still heed to this.
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I am still amazed that people continue to begin smoking, given all the research out there about the harmful effects of smoking…
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You couldn’t make that up… but once again the comments were priceless…:) That’s why I love your posts, Jim 🙂 x
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it is crazy that a company would release such a report… and the comments are the best part…
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So baffling how that idea passed so many desks without a few questioning the appropriateness of such a study…., 🙄
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a company of yes men…
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Big Tobacco! The original Spin Masters!!
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and still going strong…
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Of the 20 different types of cancer, 17 are linked to smoking cigarettes. Smoking increases the risk of developing lung cancer by 2-4x, which is one of the most common forms in both men and women nowadays. In addition, smokers have a much higher risk for oral cancers and laryngeal cancers too.
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