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Would you take this job...BE HONEST!!

post #1 of 62
7/17/06 at 2:22pm
Thread Starter 
Okay there are all the radio ads where I live from the Anti Smoking organization called Reality Check.

They ask someone a series of questions about what they would do for $7.3 million dollars.

Such as -Would you go to school Naked? Would you eat worms?
That kind of stuff-

Then the last question is "would market a product and get kids hooked that could cause cancer? (something to that effect anyway)

Of course the person Answers - "No! I have a conscience"

then they go on to say how the CEO of Camel made $7.3 million with stock options last year.

Now I am sorry and you may think I am a bad person but for 7.3 million, yes I will be a CEO of a tobacco company!

I think it is up to the parents to educate their children about the dangers of smoking and the tobacco companies are not putting the cigarrettes in thier hands. My mother was a chain smoker for 30 years and it NEVER occured to me to smoke because I knew the dangers.

Everytime I hear that ad I just think if they asked a random person on the street the answer would be yes.

I am just wondering if I am the only person out there apparently without a conscience?
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post #2 of 62
7/17/06 at 2:26pm
Honestly - no. 7.3 million may be a lot of money, yes - but I think my conscience would get the best of me.

I wouldn't enjoy 7.3 million knowing that I'm causing cancer and what not to underage children, and adults even.
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post #3 of 62
7/17/06 at 2:35pm
No, I wouldnt do it. Might be tempted to go to scholl naked though (which would cause a rukus in itself as I don't even go to school any more!!)
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post #4 of 62
7/17/06 at 2:38pm
If the offer of 7.3 million were real I think most people would do it. In theory they would say no. In practice they would say yes.
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post #5 of 62
7/17/06 at 2:40pm
Thread Starter 
I figured I may be alone in my opinion ...

I just think you can not put it all on the tobacco companies.

What about the parents and schools who are supposed to teach children and help guide them. Nowadays especially the the risk of smoking is very well advertised and known (IMO)

I think at some point people need to take responsibility for there own actions and stop blaming everyone else.
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post #6 of 62
7/17/06 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crys12065
I figured I may be alone in my opinion ...

I just think you can not put it all on the tobacco companies.

What about the parents and schools who are supposed to teach children and help guide them. Nowadays especially the the risk of smoking is very well advertised and known (IMO)

I think at some point people need to take responsibility for there own actions and stop blaming everyone else.
You aren't alone in your opinion.
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post #7 of 62
7/17/06 at 2:49pm
As a 15 year old girl i will say this. they teach us well at school but i have ALOT of friends that smoke ciggarettes. 2 of my best friends in the world dont even talk to me anymore because they hang out with a new crowd that does drugs and all of that. i have 3 best friends left from 10 that dont smoke. and one of them told me the other day that he does drugs and he has started smoking and all i could do is cry. the education about smoking helps a little but the education really has nothing to do with it in most cases. My cousin has been my best friend since we were three and we always said we'd never start and she did and now i dont know where she is. i dont know if she's pregnant, or sick or even dead. all because she took up smoking. she is only 16. it is peer pressure that gets us teens to start smoking. i dont ever think i could live with myself knowing that i did that so no i wouldent take the job.
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post #8 of 62
7/17/06 at 3:12pm
I think I would take it if you left out the "ads targeting children" bit. I do agree that it's an ADULTS choice to smoke or not, but I don't think that targeting kids or teens is ethical.

Though they probably do it because that's a good way to get people hooked. Most smokers I know started smoking between 12 and 20. I'm 24 and I've never smoked and don't plan on starting. But I can see if someone really pressured me when I was in highschool or if I wanted to hang out with the cool kids I may have not have been strong enough to "just say no".

~Julia
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post #9 of 62
7/17/06 at 3:17pm
I don't think I would take it. If it were porn or alcohol for sure.. cigs, no, probably not. Besides the fact I smoke/did smoke and had a very hard time quitting I don't think I could do that and feel OK. And anyway I have doubts about the future of tobacco companies anyway so I don't know that it would be a good decision for the future..
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post #10 of 62
7/17/06 at 3:50pm
No, i wouldn't take it. I greatly dislike smoke (i'm allergic to it, and i've seen several family members die of lung cancer due to tobacco products)- and knowing the harm it causes, and after visiting friends and family members who suffer from cancer- there's no way i would want to profit at the harm of other people....Its not right. I'm content with my paycheck as it is knowing that i am able to visit cancer patients and cheer their spirits, and volunteer to make a difference rather than sit behind the desk of a multimillion dollar industry and know that my company is marketing a product that kills millions. The money- sure it's tempting, but money is money- and when there is a way to dishonestly make money- there is even more ways to make money honestly without harming people. So no, i wouldn't take the job
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post #11 of 62
7/17/06 at 7:00pm
Yes I would, and I wouldn't feel an ounce of guilt for it.

Quote:
I think it is up to the parents to educate their children about the dangers of smoking and the tobacco companies are not putting the cigarrettes in thier hands.
^^^I completely agree!
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post #12 of 62
7/17/06 at 7:21pm
I would in a heartbeat. Like it or not smoking employs a lot of people. They need someone who has good direction to make sure that they get a paycheck.
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post #13 of 62
7/17/06 at 7:24pm
No. I wouldn't.

There might be a lot of things I might be willing to do to myself for that kind of money, but I don't think I have a right to harm other people (children or adults) for my own benefit. That's where I'd draw the line.
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post #14 of 62
7/17/06 at 9:06pm
There is no amount of money that could make killing millions enjoyable.
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post #15 of 62
7/17/06 at 10:07pm
I don't know that I would. I don't agree with smoking at all. I think it's a pointless, expensive, and unhealthy habit. I don't think I could promote it, especially to kids, for any amount of money, especially since I don't believe the ads they put out. Smoking doesn't make you cool, it makes your pockets empty and your voice croaky.
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post #16 of 62
7/17/06 at 10:30pm
UM NO NO NO //// I am suffering the consequences of smoking on two fronts... My health ( second hand smoke has likely taken 30-40 yrs off my life ) and watching my mom dye a slow death ...
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post #17 of 62
7/17/06 at 11:57pm
No way in h e double hockey sticks would I take that job. Not for 7.3 million, not even for what ever money I wanted. Never!

I would never take money or save money(knowingly) at the expense of another human whether adult or child.

Like in another thread...this is just another sign of the "me" generation we're living in. Who cares, those people are not my responsibility, the schools should make sure my death sticks don't end up in those kids hands...If that worked, there be a heck of a lot less people who smoke!!!

I took a health teaching methods class this past semester and the average age for starting smoking is now 10-12 years old, so now we as teachers need to address this in grade 3 or 4 instead of 5 or 6 like a few years ago.

I think that it IS the responsibility of the tabacco companies to play straight and ONLY market to LEGAL ADULTS.

ON a side note: I was watching 60 minutes a couple nights ago and at the end, there was a segment on the type of people who smoke and the better educated you are (ie. highschool vs a bacholors degree vs a graduate degree) the less likely you are to smoke.
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post #18 of 62
7/18/06 at 5:06am
If I did, it would take a heck of a lot more money than 7.3 million to weigh that on my conscious. Mainly because the press knocking me down would get to me and I'd crack.
I would need enough that I could buy my own private island and move there.

On the other hand, I would go to school naked (or work for that matter) for 7.3 million.
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post #19 of 62
7/18/06 at 5:59am
I would, and as someone said before, it is up to the tabacco companies to market to only legal adults - well as the CEO you could make sure they are doing that.

I also do not feel that cigarette advertising (what little of it is still allowed) promotes smoking to children/teens... and there are active tv campaigns against children smoking. I think it is up to parents to teach and set a good example to their children.

As my mother always said, if your friends jumped off London Bridge, would you do it too? Well no, its just stupid, well so is smoking! You can teach your children to be strong against peer pressure and to choose friends that will not pressure you into things... to be their own person, and I feel that is an obligation as a parent.

It also doesn't say anywhere what you can or can't do with that 7.3 million and you could do a lot of good with that money - and lets face it - people are going to smoke anyway, so why not change the way the company works and use the money to do some good.
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post #20 of 62
7/18/06 at 8:17am
icklemiss, you said it better than I could!

I don't think they market to children anymore either, and in my hometown they ticket underage smokers, run sting operations to find people selling cigs to minors, etc. All the people I knew in high school who smoked, their parents knew or even bought them. I know that's different in many places, but tobacco really can't advertise anymore, except in magazines aimed at adults. I remember when the ads were everywhere, but I didn't think it was cool. Even logging on to their website, they verify your age, and not just you fill in an age that's 18, they actually check. Try it yourself, and try lying... it won't work. Alcohol sites don't even do that, you just claim to be 21, or you claim to be 18 for porn. If anything, they do a better job of not marketing to minors than either of those industries, and honestly both of those can cause serious problems as well.

Excessive drinking causes just as many health problems, if not more, than cigarettes, and yet more people would gladly take that job. Alcohol can even cause immediate death, I've never heard of anyone dying from binge smoking. Alcohol causes cancer, worse birth defects, liver failure, etc. But they are allowed to advertise all over everywhere still.

I don't know if I'd want to be the CEO of anything though.
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post #21 of 62
7/18/06 at 10:54am
I would probably be a crack dealer before I would be a CEO of a tobacco company...only because I feel they are less evil.
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post #22 of 62
7/18/06 at 1:07pm
I would take those jobs. Tobacco is actually the easiest plant to do genetic researches on and surely one can put some money into researching non-cancer-causing tobacco.
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post #23 of 62
7/18/06 at 1:31pm
As long as I don't have to smoke the product myself, yes, I'd take the job. I disagree with marketing to children, but I believe adults have the right to decide for themselves whether or not they want to smoke, just the same as I believe they have the right to drink (or not drink). Also, if I were CEO, I'd expect to have some say in who my company markets to and how they go about their business, so perhaps I'd be able to change the way things are being done?

On the other hand, people often tell me that I'm morally flexible.
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post #24 of 62
7/18/06 at 5:28pm
I'd take the job for a year in order to redirect their advertising to be against smoking and organize funds to help people kick the habit. I would do that gladly for $7.3M!!
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post #25 of 62
7/19/06 at 10:15am
I'd take the job. Of course I'm a smoker. I know cigarettes are harmful to your health, but they're not the only things that are harmful, to people, and a lot of these other harmful things, we readily accept, no problem. For example, the contaminates we put in the air, with our automobiles are just as bad as cigarette smoke. I'll bet no one would think twice about being the CEO of an auto manufactering comany, or an oil company for that matter.

Someone, I don't remember who, said they would consider being a CEO to an Alcohal Company, or maybe the Porn industry, before they'd consider being a CEO to a Tobacco firm. I can find NOTHING Legal on this earth today that is bad as alcohal. It is by far a more disgusting habit than smoking in my opinion. People get drunk and they kill other innocent people. People kill themselves from liver disease from drinking. Homes are wrecked and lives are wrecked from alcohal. Yet, it is accepted. I just don't get it. I won't even go into the Porn industry, but it is harmful to most women, because it stirs up the rapists.

Cigarettes are politically incorrect today, and for some reason, everyone has made cigarettes out to be the Great Satin. I don't think they market them to children, either. Where is there an ad anywhere where they show children in a school yard enjoying a cigarette?

I would take the CEO job of a tobacco co, in an instant, and I wouldn't feel guity about it
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post #26 of 62
7/19/06 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HopeHacker
I don't think they market them to children, either. Where is there an ad anywhere where they show children in a school yard enjoying a cigarette?
Just with any specific target in advertising, its subtle and subliminal...not necessarily direct.

IE, Joe the Camel as a cartoon figure, cigarettes and cigarette ads are often marketed at "eye level" of growing adolescents in stores and other places.
Ads are geared towards youngish, cool hipsters smoking...

That being said. I smoke. I think its a personal choice. Perhaps a bad personal choice, but a choice nonetheless.. Teach your children to be confident and secure and there is less of a chance they will choose cigarettes as an initial way of fitting in..

People market Oil of Olay, cellulite creams and plastic surgery to me but I don't have to purchase them.
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post #27 of 62
7/19/06 at 4:20pm
Joe the Camel has been illegal since I was in grade school here, as have any cartoonish figures marketing tobacco. Is it different in Canada? Can they advertise on tv too?

I wish I could go back and tell my 14-yr-old self to not be an idiot and start smoking. It wasn't because of the ads, though, that I started.
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post #28 of 62
7/19/06 at 4:43pm
I'd take it. Icklemiss pretty much said everything I would've.
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post #29 of 62
7/20/06 at 8:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom
Joe the Camel has been illegal since I was in grade school here, as have any cartoonish figures marketing tobacco. Is it different in Canada? Can they advertise on tv too?

I wish I could go back and tell my 14-yr-old self to not be an idiot and start smoking. It wasn't because of the ads, though, that I started.
OH, I didn't know that...No cartoonish figures here...We have stricter laws about advertising here though (you can't advertise tobacco and haven't been able to for many many years here..in fact, I can't remember them ever doing so)

I agree though. I didn't start due to advertisement but rather peer pressure.
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post #30 of 62
7/21/06 at 8:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by babyharley
Honestly - no. 7.3 million may be a lot of money, yes - but I think my conscience would get the best of me.

I wouldn't enjoy 7.3 million knowing that I'm causing cancer and what not to underage children, and adults even.
I have to agree with this. I'm totally against tobacco use and I wouldn't be able to live with myself. No amount of money is worth the amount of lives lost every year to tobacco use.
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