Tobacco companies studied ways to hook female smokers…..Ethical?

Tobacco companies studied ways to hook female smokers…..Ethical?

In a recent case study that we read in class, “tobacco companies studied ways to hook female smokers”, the case study talk about how researchers from Harvard University’s school examined and researched how companies try to lure more women into smoking. We have to ask ourselves…is this really true? Is this really fair to women that tobacco companies are doing this? Is this really ethical? Well believe it or not, tobacco companies will do anything to get more women to smoke.

The article discusses how tobacco companies will change the looks of their cigarettes by making them longer and slimmer to make women feel that they are living a healthier lifestyle. R.J Reynolds CO. wanted to even create unique flavours such as chocolate, brandy, cinnamon and many more to get women hooked on the good last taste of cigarettes. By 2025, worldwide smoking rates for women are expected to increase by 20%, while men are steadily declining. So does it not make sense for these tobacco companies to target women?  

The real question is…is this very ethical? We talk about these things in class all the time.   Are these companies that sell tobacco products doing the right thing by promoting smoking for women? Is it really all about making profit? Or should we be concerned about the health of other people? I believe that by companies promoting and selling these products they are doing anything wrong. We live in a world where everybody is responsible for themselves and the decisions they make. Right on the cigarette packages it explains what the cigarettes and tobacco can do to you so I don’t believe that we should criticize someone for selling these products that are harmful to our body. The person is just doing their job. We don’t think about this when someone sells a car to us. There’s a chance that you could die in a car crash every time you drive it isn’t there? I guess we don’t really think about these things. We notice the smoking case more often because it’s so obvious to us what the tobacco can do to our bodies.

We all have our own opinions on ethics and what we classify ethical or non ethical. I think that we should be more aware of what’s going on in society and how business works.

Sources:

     http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/203913-Tobacco-companies-studied-ways-to-hook-female-smokers

Brandon York

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