New Tactic

[maxx]

I don't know if this has been suggested before....but here goes...

Instead of letter writing to groups like the Lung Association or Cancer Society....which have already proven to be our enemies....maybe we should get lists of their largest corporate donors and go after them. For example, if there is a large corporation giving big bucks to these groups, we could contact them and inform them that their money is going into supporting smoking. This would be true since banning e-cigs would cause a rise in cigarette smoking which all of the polls have shown. Couple that with a threat to organize a boycott of their particular products or services until they cease supporting an organization that wants to force people to smoke.

I don't expect the Lung people or cancer society to ever support us....but would be satisfied if they just got out of the way. Hit em' in the pocket books and publicly connect them to increased smoking rates....and they might just shut up on the whole subject.

Just a thought....and I think the donor lists must be made available somewhere....for tax reasons.

 

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

The only problem with that is groups like the ALA, ACA, AHA, and others get the majority of their funding from pharma corps....and pharma stands to lose a ton of cash in NRT sales if PV's go mainstream.

 

[maxx]

Agreed....we can't touch the pharma....but I am sure there are other companies that contribute to these causes. But imagine some day when the ALA calls Big Company A asking for the usual contribution and Company A says, "Well....we would like to give, but we are having a problem with the ALA position on smoking. Our customers think you are trying to keep people smoking." I think the lights would start burning very late at ALA if even one company said something like that to them....and they would back out of this fight.

Just comes down to the wording. Does the ALA want people to smoke? Of course not. But that is the end result of their actions. So you contact Company A and say, "Your company is contributing to the ALA. Are you aware that the ALA is actively seeking to ban products that assist people in stopping smoking and as a result many people who have been able to quit, will have to go back to smoking?"

It's a true statement...

Divide and conquer. Get the do-gooders out of this fight one by one....and you actually have a shot at beating the FDA.

 

[BCB]

I like it.

 

[Stephra]

My google-fu isn't very good, but maybe someone else's is better - WHO FUNDS THE ALA?

I'm sad to say I can't figure out how to find this info.

 

[rothenbj]

My google-fu isn't very good, but maybe someone else's is better - WHO FUNDS THE ALA?

I'm sad to say I can't figure out how to find this info.

I'm normally pretty good at googling info, but I've tried a number of ways and no go. I would guess that they don't readily provide such information. I wouldn't either if I wanted to protect my identity from being considered the consumer lobby for the pharma industry, would you?

 

[Unperson]

The only problem with that is groups like the ALA, ACA, AHA, and others get the majority of their funding from pharma corps....and pharma stands to lose a ton of cash in NRT sales if PV's go mainstream.

I hate to be a fly in the ointment, but Vicks is correct. Generally people don't contribute large amounts of money to altruistic (cough*yeah, right*cough) organizations like the ALA unless they have a stake in the game (like GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, etc.).

You can also forget about hurting 'cig nazis' like A.S.H.. Trying to take on "Action on Smoking and Health" would be akin to slinging mudd at M.A.D.D. (which even the original founding mother has disavowed stating that they've become too extremist).

I think the best way to hurt the FDA, ALA, and even the 'cross-burning' A.S.H. is to try to tarnish their public image by exposing the masses to the real reasons why they are trying to stamp out e-cigs; specifically.. ..money versus genuine concern.

What a strange little world we live in.

 

[CaptJay]

Unperson is cirrect - but I do think we should use the same tactics THEY are using.
Avert: Kid crying as parent smokes cigarette - flash message - I used to be smoke free until organisations like the ALA were instrumental in banning smoke free alternatives - flash picture - kid and parent outside playing together - flash picture PV - flash message They took away the only thing that helped me quit smoking and lower my nicotine intake gradually - static picture child at parent's gravesite holding a sign marked ALA 'for the children bill' E cigs ban success! Flash picture new headline 'cigarette sales increase for the first time in years' Flash picture: child crying. Static picture hold: CASAA - because we dont want you to die trying to give up. Support us.
End advert.

Oh yeah we could play the same game.

 

[jiff]

A simple commercial like that would do wonders, but to get it nationally played on big TV stations during prime time hours would cost more money than PV users and suppliers have to offer. Not to mention you may be hard pressed to get a station to play it.

 

[D103]

I would love to see someone do a video clip (with actors) of a CASAA member being let into a State Senator's office. The Senator welcome's the CASAA member who introduces themselves and thanks the Senator for her/his time. Now as the CASAA person sits down you begin to hear, in the background at first, an annoying tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick,THUMP! tick, tick, tick etc. The CASAA member begins speaking with the Senator about the benefits of the electronic cigarette versus the obvious and overwhelming hazards of tobacco smoking - the tick, tick.......THUMP! is getting increasingly louder and the Senator is beginning to look around for the source of the distraction and is getting increasingly annoyed. Meanwhile the CASAA member continues to provide sane, sensible and compelling information in favor of the e-cig. Tick, tick, tick.........Thump continues and the Senator can take it no longer and finally blurts out, ' what is that incessant ticking and thumping?' The CASAA member very respectfully and somberly states, "Why Senator, that is the death rate of cigarette smokers - every 8 seconds a tobacco smoker dies, tick, tick, tick....... The Senator squirms but then proclaims 'but what about all the FDA-approved smoking cessation products on the market?' The CASAA member calmy and solemnly explains that the very best of these product produces only 7%-10% success rate and goes on to politely say "Senator, with all due respect, 7%-10% of the 46 million American smokers, well....you do the math" "Hardly enough to quiet the ticking and thumping and quite frankly the bodies just keep piling up sir". Finally, exasperated the Senator proclaims "We have to DO SOMETHING..... " The CASAA member states, " I totally agree Senator as do the doctors with the AAPHP as well as other respected Pulminologists , Cardiologists and other Health Professionals in the field of Tobacco Harm-Reduction...... then the video and the ticking slowly fade out. Done right I think that would be an effective video. One smoker dying every 8 seconds is monstrous and impossible to ignore, so let's let them HEAR it!!

 

[D103]

Had another thought! You add a trailer to the video saying the making of this video took (just an example) say, ten minutes to shoot and another six minutes to edit to the finished product. A total of sixteen minutes - 960 seconds - and in America, 120 smokers died while this video was made. It is unconscionable to even consider 'banning' a clearly "safer than tobacco smoking" alternative and we, former tobacco-smokers do not and will not accept any bans made against this life-saving product. And for those on the side of "banning.....tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, THUMP!

 

[Unperson]

Here's an idea for a commercial.

You see a very long corridor with a line of people standing in it. The camera pans down the line till it reaches a room that the people are waiting to get into. The camera enters the room and there are two people in suits standing next to a conveyor belt. They are both wearing big buttons that say A.L.A. and shows the ALA logo. The belt is carrying coffins. Every eight seconds, the belt stops and one person from the line gets into the coffin and closes the lid. One of the two near the belt calls out, "Next!" and the next coffin moves into place. The other person wearing the suit says to the first, "Hey, I thought our job was to save lives?" The first person replies, "Not any more."

The camera fades to a black screen with message:

What the American Lung Association ISN'T telling you!

Visit "xxx.com" for more information.

...

The web address points to a site with complete details of our dilemma. By keeping it vague, it draws people to the site. Once there, it is up to a talented writer to inform them of the facts.

 

[Bobnoxious]

I'm wondering if anyone has tried posting any info directly on the ALA's Facebook page? At the risk of losing your FB account possibly. But, you could always start out with a, shall we say, expendable account.

 

[curiousJan]

I'm normally pretty good at googling info, but I've tried a number of ways and no go. I would guess that they don't readily provide such information. I wouldn't either if I wanted to protect my identity from being considered the consumer lobby for the pharma industry, would you?

There is a link on the ALA site ... American Lung Association ... while it's mostly individual names there are a few companies there as well.

Jan (* who likes the idea of public service announcement type adverts and thinks this may be a very good idea, indeed *)

 

[Bobnoxious]

There is a link on the ALA site ... American Lung Association ... while it's mostly individual names there are a few companies there as well.

Jan (* who likes the idea of public service announcement type adverts and thinks this may be a very good idea, indeed *)

Huh. I wonder what Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan would think about what the ALA's been doing with their generous donations.

 

[curiousJan]

Huh. I wonder what Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan would think about what the ALA's been doing with their generous donations.

I had the same thought myself.

 

[Bobnoxious]

I contacted a group on this list. I sent the original message 4/29, and they just now got back to me. I had sinister plans in the beginning, but now I'm just curious how they ended up on that list.

The group can't be more than a couple dozen people. So, I found it really odd that they were on that list. Maybe they took up a collection or something.