You are the Target. Big Tobacco: Lies, Scams—Now the Truth by Georgina Lovell. Chryan Communications, Vancouver, Can$16.50/US$12.95/UK £6.70+shipping, pp 200. ISBN 0 9730670 0 4. See www.you-are-the-target.com for ordering details. Rating: Rating: ★★
The following quotation appears on the back cover and in the text of this book: “We don't smoke the shit, we just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid.” It sounds apocryphal, but it is said to be the response of an R J Reynolds representative when asked why none of the company's executives smoked. Such a statement could be an eye opener for smokers or anyone who is thinking of starting to smoke. It seems to me to summarise the content of the book, namely that the tobacco industry is well aware of the harm caused by tobacco use, but consistently denies it either by false statements or silence, while targeting the most vulnerable groups in society.
The book is clearly not intended as a scientific treatise but as a revelation to the general reader of the deep layers of deception underlying the smooth surface of tobacco marketing. I found the section where the author peels off these layers to be the most fascinating. For example, a series of statements by various tobacco companies that they do not want children to smoke, and would not market to them, are set against internal industry statements that indicate the exact reverse. Stories abound of occasions on which the tobacco industry seems to have distorted the truth and of the way in which the media, notably The Sunday Telegraph, appear to have supported them in this. The text is liberally peppered with quotations indicating cover ups and deceptions. There are also tobacco related cameos of several well known people, including Kenneth Clarke and Sylvester Stallone
The author says she is just passing on information that was previously known mostly to medical professionals. As such, quite large sections of the book are sometimes based on other publications—for example, the useful summary of the history of tobacco advertising.
To me, the sections on the history, statistics, and health effects of tobacco are the least valuable part of the book, being sketchy, diffuse, and sometimes incoherent. I also failed to get excited about the jokes section, although other readers might really appreciate the humour. I found the book rather twitchy, disorganised, and difficult to read. Quotations and new topics frequently leap in unheralded, and the referencing is sporadic.
However, I recommend this book to people involved in tobacco control, especially those who are educating young people. Although not the first book on the ploys of the tobacco industry, it provides a valuable potpourri of revelations and direct quotations that are a mine of ammunition for tobacco control activists. Nobody likes to be conned.