Youth offer “Reality Check” to Big Tobacco at Altria Annual Shareholders’ Meeting

Background

Reality Check is a youth-led, adult-supported program based out of New York State that empowers youth to become leaders and fight against the tobacco industry through grassroots mobilization and education. Established in 2001, the group is funded by the New York State Department of Health Tobacco Control Program. Through Reality Check, youth have the opportunity to become leaders in their communities and educate their peers, family, community members, legislators, and decision-makers on the tobacco industry’s manipulative marketing practices and on youth tobacco use. Their efforts aim to decrease youth tobacco use, protect youth from exposure to tobacco marketing and imagery, and eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.

Youth activists from various groups have been demonstrating at Big Tobacco company shareholder meetings, including at Philip Morris (now called Altria), Philip Morris International, Philip Morris USA, and Reynolds American for nearly two decades to hold these companies accountable for their actions and demand change.

Along with Reality Check, the other youth groups involved over the years have included: New Hampshire Dover Youth to Youth, Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai`i, Texas Say What, No Limits Nebraska, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, Wisconsin FACT, Michigan Making It Count, California Youth Advocacy Network, Delaware Kick Butts Generation, and others. In addition, the efforts have involved national partners including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the Center for Black Health & Equity, the Truth Initiative, American Indian Cancer Foundation, Corporate Accountability, and Counter Tools.

From 2015-2020, the demonstrations happened in-person directly outside of Altria’s shareholders meeting held in Richmond, VA, where the company is also headquartered.

In 2020-2022, with the need to maintain social distancing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the demonstrations went fully virtual. The virtual efforts, called “Mobilize Against Tobacco Lies,” involved social media advocacy, training webinars, and at-home activities. Doing the event virtually opened up more opportunities for participation for youth from all around the country.

During the pandemic, the Altria shareholders meeting also went fully virtual and has remained virtual, so beginning in 2023, Reality Check continued with their virtual mobilization efforts and also returned to demonstrating in-person – now in Washington D.C., in front of Altria’s lobbyist office, from which the company promotes its agenda on Capitol Hill.

The focus of the demonstrations and Mobilize Against Tobacco Lies is advocating against the practices of Altria. Altria Group, Inc (formerly known as Philip Morris) is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of tobacco products. Altria owns several companies in the U.S., including Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, John Middleton, Helix Innovations, and NJOY. Some of the company’s big tobacco brands include Marlboro, Basic, Parliament, Virginia Slims, Copenhagen, Skoal, Husky, Black & Mild, NJOY, and On!

What Happens Before and During the Demonstrations

Each year, the group picks a theme that focuses on industry messaging, particular products, or a call to action. The youth use this theme to develop props, signage, and advocacy messages for the demonstrations. For instance, one year they played on Altria’s introduction of Marlboro Ice cigarettes with a message that the company is “cold as ice.” Another year, the youth called for the industry to “remove all flavors, in all products, for all people.” They have also used a snake-related theme, with slogans such as “snakes selling addiction,” “same snake, different skin,” “once a snake always a snake,” and “different skin, same lies,” to show how the tobacco industry tries to “shed” their bad image but still markets products deceptively and preys upon vulnerable groups like youth with their deadly tobacco products.

Before the demonstrations, the youth participate in trainings on topics including the tobacco industry’s targeting of youth, communities of color, and lower-income neighborhoods with point-of-sale tactics such as the selling of flavored tobacco products and highly visible tobacco advertising, as well as on advocacy and social justice. They hear from guest speakers and trainers like Counter Tools, New Hampshire Dover Youth to Youth, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, and others. These trainings seek to educate and reinforce topics with information the youth can use in their advocacy efforts.

During the in-person demonstrations, the youth wield bright signs, use props, and chant messages to make their voices heard. For the entirety of Altria’s shareholders meeting, the youth can be seen chanting loudly for all to hear on the street. For the virtual demonstrations, youth speak out and post on social media, tagging tobacco industry pages.

These ardent demonstrations have succeeded in getting the tobacco company’s attention. The company knows the names of many of the event organizers and the youth participants, and the Altria marketing manager began following them on Twitter.

Reality Check and the other programs also use Altria’s own strategy against them by buying shares in their stock. This allows a few of the youth to actually be able to attend Altria’s shareholders meeting, whether in-person or virtually, where they can confront the company’s executives and ask them questions during Q&A. The questions from youth have focused on corporate responsibility, high availability of flavored tobacco products, tobacco company marketing practices, and the impact of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products on youth. These questions force Altria to respond to their concerns and allow others to hear about the company’s negative impact.

Impact on Youth

These efforts not only send a message to Big Tobacco, but also further inspire youth to work towards change. As event organizer Jonathan Chaffee noted,

“We want the event to empower them so when they come back to their community, they are fired up to push for change, and when they get older and are not in Reality Check anymore, they take what they learned about policy change to make their communities a better place and to push for that change.”

Being able to come to the shareholders meeting also helps make the issues real for them. As many of the youth come from more rural communities, event organizer Dana Isabella said,

“It is important to show them that they are part of something way bigger than their schools district, their community, their region, or their state – they can be part of a movement that is outside of their physical location, and there is real power behind that. It opens up the world to them.”  She added that it’s nice to see, “the power of a group of young people who have knowledge and passion and hope for change. It gives me hope, too.”

As one youth participant, Miranda Bickham, said,

“I attended the Altria Shareholder’s meeting and had the opportunity to ask the CEO of the company a question regarding the dangers of tobacco industries. During this meeting, I was completely shocked to see that the CEO of Altria not only completely ignored most of our questions, but to also preach about the importance of their new stock in JUUL afterwards. From going to this meeting, I learned more about the tobacco industry itself and many of the differences between what the company says versus what they actually do.”

Another youth participant, Lily Bouton, said,

“Attending the Altria trip was an amazing experience. I learned more in depth about how the tobacco industries are targeting youth and how the public is taking action to react against the tobacco industries’ goals. To be with such a large group of teens, all trying to reach the same goal is amazing. Being able to shout out our minds as one, outside of an annual shareholders meeting was so great because we got to express how we felt and we know we were making a difference, with only more to come.”

Get Involved

Want to get your youth group involved? Contact mobilizeagainsttobaccolies@gmail.com to get in contact with Reality Check and join the Mobilize Against Tobacco Lies movement to fight back against the tobacco industry. All youth groups are welcome! For more insight on the efforts, listen to our podcast here.

Last updated June 26, 2024