In 2006, a court of law found big tobacco companies such as Altria (Philip Morris) and RJ Reynolds in civil racketeering in 2006 due to their long history of deceptive practices. The court proceedings revealed some heartbeat actions from these companies.
- Withholding Information Regarding Evidence of Nicotine Addictiveness: The companies withheld information and evidence which proved nicotine was, in fact, addictive.
- Misinformation by Light Cigarette’s Advertisement: Promoting low-tar or “light” cigarettes to consumers as less harmful than regular cigarettes so firm profits would not dip, resulting in severe misinformation.
- Exploitation of the Younger Generation: Since the 1950s, these companies sought to target those under the age of 21, so they could fill the role of replacement smokers ensuring the longevity of the industry.
- Purely Formal Anti-Youth Smoking Programs: Their initiatives that aimed at preventing smoking in teens and children were made for the sole purpose of allowing teenagers to smoke.
- No Acknowledgement of Dangers Resulting from Second-Hand Smoke: Externally, they refused to openly admit the recognition of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) as harmful to non-smokers while internally accepting the smoke’s dangers.
Taking note of these actions, the court instructed the tobacco companies to cover their advertisement with corrective statements regarding the adverse effects of smoking alongside the brands accompanying deceitful actions. Two prominent advertising channels that had to be issued were the newspapers and television.