John Oliver explains why Big Tobacco is still thriving
February 19, 2015
While many were watching the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” was busy taking aim at big tobacco. Oliver dedicated a portion of his Feb. 15 show to explain why tobacco companies are still making high profits.
Since smoking rates in the United States have dipped dramatically in the past decades, many would think that this would have marked the slow death of big tobacco companies. However, John Oliver shows us in his latest video report that big tobacco is doing better than ever. How is this possible, you might ask? The answer is that in developing countries like Indonesia there are very few restrictions against smoking. This is now where tobacco companies do most of their business.
As always, Oliver’s stance on the issue is cutting and satirical, saying that big tobacco’s sustained success makes it “the agricultural equivalent of U2.” He then goes into detail on how these companies are using intimidation tactics to prevent smaller countries from putting anti-smoking laws into effect.
In extremely small and impoverished nations such as Uruguay and Togo, tobacco companies are threatening lawsuits that are intended to prevent stricter smoking regulations. One of these policies would require that all branding be removed from cigarette boxes and would instead feature images of diseased body parts and health warnings. Oliver dedicated much of the 20-minute segment to tearing into some of the lawsuits being made by big tobacco, calling them “comically appalling.”
It turns out that tobacco companies aren’t just going after small countries, a division of Phillip Morris is threatening to sue the Australian government as well. They claim that their brand’s trademark and intellectual property is being threatened by the country’s law that cigarette boxes be free of any branding or logos like Joe Camel or the Marlboro Man.
Oliver proposed a compromise between Australia and big tobacco toward the end of the segment. The solution? A branded character combined with public health warnings called: “Jeff the Diseased Lung in a Cowboy Hat.” He offered the mascot to Phillip Morris as a replacement to the Marlboro Man.
Jeff is exactly what he sounds like, a giant cancerous lung dressed as a cowboy who is coughing while smoking a cigarette. The show went ahead and started promoting the character for Phillip Morris, placing his image on several billboards in Uruguay and sending free t-shirts to people in Togo. Oliver also encouraged viewers to tweet #JeffWeCan, which caused it to become a trending topic on twitter.
If you haven’t had a chance to see the segment, you can find it on YouTube. Like most of Oliver’s reports it is both extremely informative and entertaining.