black…MYstory

For the longest time, you couldn’t get Wall Street to market luxury cars or financial services to black people but, there was no shortage of ads for cigarettes or cheap liquor. So, I vividly remember the big cigarette billboards for brands like Kool’s and Newport. Better yet, anyone remember the ads in Ebony magazine that showed glamorous and sexy black people smoking these cigarettes? And the cheap liquor! Are you old enough to remember Billy Dee Williams doing commercials for Colt 45? How about the bad-a$$ Schlitz Malt Liquor bull commercials? How about the radio spots and billboards done by your favorite rappers for St. Ides malt liquor?

Often the cigarettes had more tar and nicotine and liquor had a higher alcohol content than the stuff marketed to white consumers. In fact, some of these thing were specifically created for black consumers.

Growing up, a lot of us knew this and thought it odd that you could get 40 ounces of rotgut for less than a 20-ounce Coke in some stores. Something just so not right about it that we avoided the stuff like the plaugue. Sadly, not enough of us did and I had some family members and family friends die of lung cancer and deal will illesses related to alcoholism.

The things I saw about me were, by no means, unique to me, my city or even my state.

Today, I see where the families of two people have brought a $1 billion dollar lawsuit against Philip Morris USA, Lorillard Tobacco, R.J. Reynolds and Liggett Group.

The families of Annie Swain, who died in 1994 at age 80 and Dorothy Oliver who died in 2000 at age 72. Both died of acute cardiopulmonary failure and other cardiovascular problems. In the suit, they state that these companies’ marketing to black consumers was “meticulously planned and executed with clear racist intent.”

Now, regardless of how some feel about lawsuits such as these, we do need to ask how these companies manufacture and market their products to certain communities.

To get an idea of the marketing they are referring to in the suit, check this out:

The suit says the companies’ targeted marketing included billboards in African-American neighborhoods, sponsorships of sporting events, endorsement deals with African-American celebrities and saturation ad campaigns in publications such as Ebony, Jet and Essence.

Cigarette brands were even created specifically for the African-American market, including the “X” cigarette from Philip Morris and the “Uptown” from R.J. Reynolds. Both brands were later withdrawn. The Uptown was sold in packs of 10 and had higher tar and nicotine levels.

Harris said that comedian Jay Leno once joked that R.J. Reynolds chose the “Uptown” name “because the word ‘genocide’ was already taken.”

The suit says the companies sold cigarettes with “complete and utter disregard for health and human safety, and in a systematic and deliberate manner meant to addict and ultimately kill as many smokers as possible, especially African-Americans.”

Honestly, I don’t know where this suit will go but, I hope that it opens up another dialogue about how cigarette and alcohol makers target black consumers with their products.

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