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For Immediate Release 617-373-2026 January 2, 2004
Tobacco Products Liability Project Congratulates
Tobacco Industry
The Tobacco Products Liability Project congratulates the tobacco industry on the 50th anniversary of the Frank Statement to Cigarette Smokers. The Frank Statement, a full page ad casting doubt on the dangers of smoking that was placed in 448 newspapers in over 200 cities on January 4, 1954 by a “Tobacco Industry Research Committee” representing the major tobacco manufacturers, marked the beginning of the most successful and long-running corporate disinformation campaign ever. Since that time more than 20 million smokers have died prematurely from diseases that the industry has insisted are not smoking-related.
But the news is not all bad. According to expert reports submitted by the Department of Justice in its upcoming RICO case against the industry, the disinformation conspiracy has produced between $552 to $926 billion in additional profits for the tobacco industry and its stockholders. Since, despite the tobacco industry’s promise in the Frank Statement to “accept an interest in people's heath as a basic responsibility, paramount to every other consideration in our business,” it has always done the exact opposite. the 20 million deaths should do nothing to quell the anticipated flow of fine champagne in tobacco company corporate headquarters on Monday.
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