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Início / Manipulating public opinion to gain the appearance of respectability

Manipulating public opinion to gain the appearance of respectability

The tobacco industry has long employed strategies to build a positive reputation, and marketing actions have historically been used for this purpose.1 2 3 4 5 However, as studies demonstrating the negative impacts of smoking gained traction, legislation to restrict this type of activity began to be adopted worldwide. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) recommends, in its Article 13, that signatory countries ban all tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.6 In Brazil, advertising is prohibited, as are product placement and sponsorship of cultural or sports activities by the tobacco industry.7

Today, there is no doubt that smoking is a major risk factor for the leading noncommunicable diseases. In 2019 alone, more than 8.7 million people worldwide died from tobacco-related causes.8 Yet, despite all restrictions on advertising and the extensive body of scientific evidence against it, the industry continues to find ways to promote itself. How?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the main strategies used by the industry to manipulate public opinion and gain legitimacy is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), that is, the development of initiatives with social and/or environmental impact, such as social programs for tobacco farmers, environmental campaigns, and educational activities. Far from being neutral, CSR actions are designed to influence public opinion and build social and political allies. “Each time a group accepts funding or works with the tobacco industry, it regains some of the respectability lost due to the social, economic, environmental, and health harms caused by its products,” explains the document Tobacco Industry Interference – A Global Brief, published by WHO in 2012.9

Examples of this are very common in southern Brazil, a region that concentrates a large share of the country’s tobacco leaf production. The Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco) created the Crescer Legal Institute, whose stated mission is to combat child and adolescent labor in rural areas—a problem historically associated with tobacco farming. Despite the institute’s activities, there are no reports indicating a reduction in child labor as a result of the initiative. The Brazilian Tobacco Growers’ Association (Afubra)—which in theory represents farmers, but in practice takes positions aligned with the industry10 — implements the Green Is Life Program in schools across several municipalities to “develop socio-environmental education” and “promote environmental preservation,” despite tobacco farming being an activity with significant environmental impacts.11

Climate disasters and extreme events also provide opportunities for the industry to strengthen its ties with affected communities. After the floods that hit Rio Grande do Sul in 2024, both Philip Morris Brasil and BAT Brasil made donations to impacted municipalities.12 13 During the COVID-19 pandemic, both companies also donated money, as well as equipment, masks, and food to municipalities in southern Brazil.14 15 16 17 18 It is worth noting that, despite these actions, the companies did not commit to complying with health measures that would affect their production: in March 2020, a decree in Santa Cruz do Sul (RS) prohibited industrial activities that were not urgent or expressly authorized by the municipality, but the Philip Morris factory in the city did not stop operating.19

Companies also develop CSR initiatives outside producing regions. Philip Morris, for example, sponsored the Citizenship in Respect for LGBT+ Diversity Award in 2022,20 funded an activity in the official program of the São Paulo LGBT+ Pride Parade in 202421 and supported carnival groups linked to diversity in the same city the following year.22

Actions such as those described here can lead to social legitimization that tobacco companies would otherwise be unlikely to achieve. The tobacco industry uses CSR as a way to build alliances capable of influencing decision-making, thereby expanding its political capital.9

Moreover, CSR activities may be considered a form of sponsorship under the guidelines for the implementation of Article 13 of the WHO FCTC. For this reason, the guidelines recommend that Parties prohibit contributions from tobacco companies to any other entity for “socially responsible causes”—and that any publicity given to so-called “socially responsible” practices of the industry be banned, as it constitutes tobacco advertising and promotion.23 Brazil does not yet explicitly classify corporate social responsibility as a form of advertising or sponsorship. The country also lacks specific regulation to control or prohibit the public promotion of corporate social responsibility activities.24