The Tobacco Habit: Marketing and Morality

Back		The Tobacco Habit: Marketing and Morality

Grade Level		9-12

Introduction		Tobacco is in the news! With the Clinton Administration's categorization of tobacco as an addictive drug, wrongful death suits against tobacco companies pending in several US states, new government initiatives to limit advertising, and the revelation of tobacco company documents detailing early knowledge of tobacco's addictive qualities, there has been a hotbed of controversy about the tobacco habit, individual rights, and free speech. This activity brings into focus some of the salient issues in this controversy to provide students with some facts and statistics relating to the "Tobacco War."

Teacher/Student Objective		The major goal of this activity is to bring awareness to students about the relationship between the marketing strategies of multinational companies and the moral issues involved in the export of potentially damaging products on the health of peoples in other areas of the world.

Gauging Student Understanding		The progress indicators cited reflect desirable end goals. Teachers should be prepared to use a wide variety of observational, testing and authentic achievement evaluation measures in judging the progress of students. By examining a specific case study of multinational company's (tobacco industry) actions in targeting certain Asian markets, and by comparing those actions with similar marketing practices in the United States, the students will manifest an understanding of the relationship between production, marketing and advertising of a potentially hazardous product. They will weigh the moral/ethical responsibilities facing such companies regarding health concerns.

Materials		Copies of a World Map. Copies of Handout Asia Going Up in Smoke. Access to a library and/or the Internet; if not available, sufficient copies of recent articles on smoking trends in Asia for distribution to smaller groups.

Initial Data for Consideration and/or Process		For background some days before you present this lesson, direct students to research the tobacco-growing regions of the world and the tobacco-consuming regions of the world, entering their findings on the blank map provided in different colors. (Have them cite sources.) On the first day of the lesson, begin by discussing students' maps of tobacco-growing/consuming regions and their sources. If resources are readily available, ask selected students to find pertinent articles regarding tobacco usage in Asian countries. Distribute the Handout. Check student knowledge of what a multinational company is and ask them to react to the reading. Possible questions to highlight specific information: How have tobacco companies been able to get around governmental bans on cigarette advertising on TV and radio? Why is China the most desirable target of the multinational tobacco companies? What concessions have been made to American trade negotiators by foreign governments? Why do you suppose this is true? When the students have completed the reading, raise the question: What moral issues are involved in the situation described in this case study?

Other Possible Activities		This activity could be extended by having the students go through a role playing exercise of a Senate hearing on restricting export licenses of US tobacco companies. (Have roles such as: senators; lobbyists; tobacco company CEO; university researchers; the Surgeon General of US or other health experts; and civil liberties defenders, etc.) Ask the students to prepare their roles, present the hearing in class, and have the class vote as a whole as if they were the committee voting on the recommendations of the bill for passage by the full Senate. Have students collect as many different cigarette ads as possible. In small groups ask them to analyze the ads for their message (open and hidden); their targeted audience; and the images they present, etc. Then direct the groups to share their results and draw some conclusions from their findings. (A similar idea would be asking them to watch television, movies or other media presentations such as billboards for evidence of cigarette inclusion). Request that students research what actions have been taken in their local communities to deal with the tobacco drug habit.

Adapted from "The Tobacco Habit: Marketing and Morality," by Patience Berkman in Active Geography: Engaging Students in Learning about Our World. Boulder, CO: Social Science Education Consortium, 1998. pp 111-120