The facts are...

• 44 Wisconsin teens become regular smokers each day
• 20% of Wisconsin high school students smoke cigarettes
• $276.1 million Big Tobacco bucks are spent targeting Wisconsin teens each year

Big Tobacco loves those numbers. We hate 'em. But then, we've got a few numbers of our own. After all, it only takes 1 teen standing up and fighting back to rob Big Tobacco of a new customer, another pack sold, and another fat wad of dirty profits. Only 1 teen–and FACT has thousands of us.

"We don't smoke it. We just sell it. We reserve that for the young, the black, the poor and the stupid."
–Testimony of a former tobacco company employee, quoting an executive

To stop that from happening, Big T's suits will say and do just about anything to get us hooked. Check out these unbelievable quotes from tobacco execs on why they need you, how they'll get you, and the twisted things they'll do to keep you.


Big T Explains Why They Need You

"Young adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers. If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline..."
–RJ Reynolds Report, 1984

"...If our company is to survive and prosper, over the long term we must get our share of the youth market..."
–Claude Teague, Assistant Chief of Research & Development at RJ Reynolds, 1973

"If you are really and truly not going to sell to children, you are going to be out of business in 30 years."
–Bennett LeBow of Liggett/Brooke Group, Ltd.


Big T Explains How They'll Hook You

"Smoking a cigarette for the beginner is a symbolic act... 'I am no longer my mother's child, I'm tough, I am an adventurer, I'm not square.'...As the force from the psychological symbolism sides, the pharmacological effect takes over to sustain the habit."
–Philip Morris Report, 1969

"It's a well-known fact that teen-agers like sweet products. Honey might be considered."
–Brown and Williamson Marketing Memo, 1972

"Evidence is now available to indicate that the 14-18 year old group is an increasing segment of the smoking population. RJR-T must soon establish a successful new brand in this market if our position in the industry is to be maintained in the long term."
–RJ Reynolds Memo, 1976


Big T Explains How They'll Keep You Hooked

"If the nicotine level of cigarettes fails to completely achieve the desired mood change that cigarette will be drawn in deeper, the smoke held longer and the consumption will rise."
–BAT memo, 1976

"In a sense, the tobacco industry may be thought of as being a specialized, highly ritualized, and stylized segment of pharmaceutical industry. Tobacco products uniquely contain and deliver nicotine, a potent drug with a variety of physiological effects."
–RJ Reynolds Research Memo, 1972

"Moreover nicotine is addictive. We are, then, in the business of selling nicotine, an addictive drug effective in the release of stress mechanisms."
–Brown & Williamson Report, 1963