Source: Various Minnesota newspapers
Date: 2010-02-10

How does an industry that sells deadly, addictive products remain
one of the leading consumer product industries in the world? The
answer includes new products, savvy marketing and expensive
public image campaigns. ClearWay Minnesota today released
Unfiltered: A Revealing Look at Today\\\\\\\'s Tobacco Industry, a
campaign that shines a light on how the tobacco industry has
continued to evolve and thrive, despite billion dollar
settlements designed to change the way the industry did business
in the last decade.

"The tobacco industry has not gone away," said David Willoughby,
Chief Executive Officer of ClearWay Minnesota. "Don\\\'t be fooled -
just because you may not see cigarette ads any more, it doesn\\\'t
mean this industry is nott hard at work to lure new customers and
keep those who are already hooked. It\\\'s more important than ever
to highlight this continuing problem and the tobacco industry as
its root cause."

The tobacco industry spends $12.8 billion annually to market its
products nationwide, with nearly $200 million spent in Minnesota
alone. And the consequences are devastating  . . .
some snippets from the report:

African American men are an important and lucrative market for
tobacco companies.
 
Playing unfairly with kids

The Chronicles of Riddick video game uses cigarettes as a form
of strength for the game\\\'s characters. . . .

Coming to a bar near you

Cigarette Fairies are young, attractive women hired by tobacco
companies to go to bars and promote tobacco products.
 
Tobacco companies still send free products to military personnel
serving overseas today, continuing an association that goes back
nearly 100 years.

the real war stories about tobacco

Historically, free and discounted tobacco has hooked
generations of soldiers.
Smoking rates in the military are significantly higher than in
the general population.

Tobacco companies still send free cases of products to troops
serving in the Middle East.

the taste kids don\\\'t need: Flavored cigars.
 
Back cover of a 2009 issue of Playboy, which included a 12-page
special section in honor of Skoal\\\'s 75th anniversary.

sex sells skoal

According to Playboy, about 600,000 of its readers are
smokeless tobacco users and another 3.7 million are smokers.

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, makers of Skoal, sought to
embrace Skoal users and lure smokers with sexually provocative
images.

Skoal\\\'s \\\'Welcome to the Brotherhood\\\' campaign partnered with
Playboy, allowing readers to vote on a model for a pictorial.

The full report is available at www.unfilteredmn.org, a new
interactive website designed to expose the tobacco industry\'s
practices by inviting Minnesotans to post comments, upload photos
and share examples of tobacco marketing they find in their
communities and throughout the state.There is nothing Kool about targeting African Americans