Philip Morris and NOAA
No there's no connection between the largest tobacco producer and the Ocean and Weather people. Except that I've run into both in the past few days.
So Sunday afternoon I took off to the local spear fishing spot. No, I still haven't speared anything worth mentioning. In fact I don't spear anything that looks pretty or I can't post. I saw a fish swim under an overhangin piece of coral about 20ft down. By the way I can hit 50ft and stay at 40ft, just thought I'd share. Oh yeah story. So I took off down after it.
I reached the bottom and held on to a rock to peak under the coral. I looked. The fish was gone, but some smaller fish greated me with looks of fascination. That's when I heard the guy with the chainsaw. Wait... There aren't any chainsaws in the water. I looked up and saw a boat zipping overhead. So I got run over by a boat.
I hopped up to talk to the person and let them know I was in the area. I also thought it might be someone I knew. Nope. Apparently NOAA was doing a fish survey. So that's how I was ran over by a NOAA boat.
Philip Morris. I found something interesting on their website. "It can be very difficult to quit but, if you are a smoker, this shouldn't stop you from trying to do so." What? I didn't get that one. And "Millions of smokers in the United States and around the world have succeeded, though - most without outside assistance." Sure you don't need help quiting. That's exactly what I'd tell any addict; if I was the supplier. I guess if I made billions of dollars off people inhaling nastiness into their lungs I'd throw down on some confusing language too. Sure they couldn't just say- Quit smoking- it'll kill you. Apparently 1 in 10 people death in the world can be attributed to smoking. And 67% of men in China smoke. Reason #342 China won't be eclipsing the U.S. anytime soon.
What sort of poor soul would work for a company like that? I guess they'll have to answer to God some day.
Paul "Jab Jab Jab duck" Murphy
No there's no connection between the largest tobacco producer and the Ocean and Weather people. Except that I've run into both in the past few days.
So Sunday afternoon I took off to the local spear fishing spot. No, I still haven't speared anything worth mentioning. In fact I don't spear anything that looks pretty or I can't post. I saw a fish swim under an overhangin piece of coral about 20ft down. By the way I can hit 50ft and stay at 40ft, just thought I'd share. Oh yeah story. So I took off down after it.
I reached the bottom and held on to a rock to peak under the coral. I looked. The fish was gone, but some smaller fish greated me with looks of fascination. That's when I heard the guy with the chainsaw. Wait... There aren't any chainsaws in the water. I looked up and saw a boat zipping overhead. So I got run over by a boat.
I hopped up to talk to the person and let them know I was in the area. I also thought it might be someone I knew. Nope. Apparently NOAA was doing a fish survey. So that's how I was ran over by a NOAA boat.
Philip Morris. I found something interesting on their website. "It can be very difficult to quit but, if you are a smoker, this shouldn't stop you from trying to do so." What? I didn't get that one. And "Millions of smokers in the United States and around the world have succeeded, though - most without outside assistance." Sure you don't need help quiting. That's exactly what I'd tell any addict; if I was the supplier. I guess if I made billions of dollars off people inhaling nastiness into their lungs I'd throw down on some confusing language too. Sure they couldn't just say- Quit smoking- it'll kill you. Apparently 1 in 10 people death in the world can be attributed to smoking. And 67% of men in China smoke. Reason #342 China won't be eclipsing the U.S. anytime soon.
What sort of poor soul would work for a company like that? I guess they'll have to answer to God some day.
Paul "Jab Jab Jab duck" Murphy
posted by Paul Murphy at
3:14 PM
9 Comments:
The PM USA Mission Statement says: "Our goal is to be the most responsible, effective and respected developer, manufacturer and marketer of consumer products, especially products intended for adults. Our core business is manufacturing and marketing the best quality tobacco products to adults who use them."
Note that the products are marketed to adults. PM spends a lot of money discouraging the use of tobacco by under-age smokers. In addition, it seems that warning labels have been displayed on the packaging for about 40 years now, anyone who smokes is certainly aware of the dangers of the product. PM also openly admits that there are no safe cigarettes. By the way make sure you (or someone you love who has kids) visit the Parent Resource Center which offers help to parents who wish to educate their children concerning the use of tobacco. The number one cause of death in the US is heart disease and quickly closing in on number two (currently smoking) is complications related to obesity. I don't hear you beating up on Hardee's and Dr. Pepper as culprets that a person should be ashamed of working for. :) Yes, I work for this company and don't feel bad about it at all, it's a job - no better or worse than any other. Don't generalize and judge folks by their employers or products they produce. Many of the best people I've ever meet work for this company. You never know where you may run into someone who has worked for them.
By
Anonymous, at 2/26/2008 5:15 PM
Hey, that Parent Resource Center link just goes to blogger.com. What are you trying to say?
Also last I checked Smoking was a risk factor in Heart Disease.
Thirdly apparently my humorous jab at Darrel Smith, who use to work for PM didn't come across so humorous. Sometimes I forget that random people stumble across the ole blog.
Oh Oh! I did beat up on Carl's Junior (Hardee's in disguise) for causing heart attacks. See last months posts.
Wait, Isn't that money they spent on under age smokers court mandated? And it still doesn't excuse the intentionally vague lawyer esque language- especially on an international site.
By
Paul Murphy, at 2/26/2008 6:10 PM
Hey I got the jab, but just couldn't resist the need to post back. I usually resist the urge, but this one hit too close to home. The link is Parent Resource Center The court mandated money actually goes to the states directly and is usually wasted on other public programs. As the states can't seem to spend that many dollars on youth prevention.
By
Anonymous, at 2/26/2008 6:31 PM
"Reason #342 China won't be eclipsing the U.S. anytime soon."
That made me smile.
And don't let him make you feel bad about attacking Philip Morris.
As far as spending lots of money to prevent kids from smoking, they're still marketing to adults, which includes parents. This means that a ton of kids are subjected to second hand smoke from a young age, and are also raised in a culture where smoking is the norm. I don't think a Parent Resource Center website cancels out those effects.
And no one should eat at Hardee's; it's incredibly unhealthy. Of course, you can generally countermand the effects of calories and sugar through exercise. On the other hand (to my knowledge at least) exercise doesn't prevent nicotine and tar from ravaging your lungs.
By
Luke Dockery, at 2/27/2008 11:13 AM
When I worked at the alcohol & drug abuse council, PM sent us educational materials for our Prevention Resource Center all the time. We threw them in the garbage. As you mentioned, these court-mandated materials are not because PM wants you to be healthy and protect the body God gave you, its called "covering your...well, you know...". I don't think it's right to distribute self-contradicting materials to children in school or to my own [nonexistant] children.
By
Aimée Nicholson, at 2/29/2008 7:58 AM
I suppose I'll weigh in too since I see the effects of long term smoking first hand on a regular basis.
Smoking is the #1 cause of preventable health problems in the U.S. These problems are preventable because one does not HAVE to smoke. Additionally, smoking adversely affects EVERY organ system from the skin to the heart to the GI tract.
IMO tobacco should be taxed at a rate to make it inaccessible to most people. A pack of cigarettes should really be like $100 when it's all said and done.
Oh yeah, and the personal choice thing? Yeah, everyone has a right to pay someone else to kill them. However, consider the medicare/medicaid dollars going into care of smokers. Yeah, smoking impacts everyone who pays taxes.
By
DK, at 3/03/2008 11:11 PM
I hear Philip Morris has put you on their #1 hitlist target in American Samoa.
But... if you talk real horse like, throw some wrinkles on your face, dye your teeth yellow, stain your mustache a mustard color, cough, and wreak of burnt ashes... then they might let you die from natural causes.
By
Philip, at 3/07/2008 7:00 PM
Recent studies coming from Sweden have indicated that moist smokeless tobacco causes nearly 0 increase in your chance to get oral cancer.
Smoking still screw you up though.
I guess the moral is, dip and spit for better health???
btw, I'm with DK. Tax the heck out of cigarettes. $1/pack minimum--not the 7 cents we're currently charging.
By
Amber, at 3/08/2008 6:19 AM
Oops... I didn't mean to post as Amber.
By
Josh M, at 3/08/2008 6:20 AM
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