"Tobacco" is a segment of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...

news satire television series ''

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' (often abridged as ''Last Week Tonight'') is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show premiered in April 2014 on HBO. ''Last Wee ...

'' about the

tobacco industry The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...

. It first aired on February 15, 2015, as part of the second episode of the series' second season. During the eighteen-minute segment, comedian

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...

discusses tobacco industry trends and practices. Toward the end of the segment, Oliver introduces Jeff the Diseased Lung, a mascot he created for the American global cigarette and tobacco company

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris International is often refe ...

, the makers of

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Mar ...

cigarettes. The

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

diseased lung, who smokes and coughs, has been compared to

Joe Camel Joe Camel (also called Old Joe) was an advertising mascot used by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) for their cigarette brand Camel. The character was created in 1974 for a French advertising campaign, and was redesigned for the American ...

and the

Marlboro Man The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. ...

. Oliver and his team promoted the cartoon character by sending shirts with Jeff's image to

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ...

and displaying billboards in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and by encouraging use of the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#JeffWeCan, which trended on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, an ...

following the broadcast. After the segment, Philip Morris issued a response that received some criticism. The "Tobacco" segment received widespread media coverage, with several outlets praising Oliver's ability to launch successful marketing campaigns and change perceptions about smoking through the creation of the mascot. The Jeff caricature was later used at a May 2015 protest organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Description

"Tobacco", an eighteen-minute segment about the

, was delivered by

on February 15, 2015, during the second episode of ''

Last Week Tonight A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, and ...

'' second season. Oliver introduces the topic of

tobacco smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believe ...

by showing video clips of "trusted newsmen, cartoon characters, and cowboys in TV commercials" who are smoking cigarettes. He says that the cowboy in the clip is

, a figure used in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

campaigns for

cigarettes, and notes that four of the actors portraying Marlboro Man have died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malignan ...

or smoking-related illnesses. Oliver says that cigarette smoking is no longer as prevalent in the United States because of, among other things, mandatory warnings on all cigarette boxes and a ban on TV advertisements for cigarettes. The comedian says that tobacco executives adamantly refused to acknowledge the potential drawbacks to smoking, despite strong evidence to prove these drawbacks. He shows a video of Joseph Cullman, the former CEO of the tobacco company

(PMI), saying that "some women would prefer having smaller babies" in response to a reporter's comment that pregnant women who smoke will give birth to smaller babies as a result. Even so, the restrictions on smoking advertisements contributed to a decline in smoking rates among American adults, as only 18% of adults smoked in 2014, compared to 43% of adults in 1965. Oliver then shows a clip of a tobacco farmer saying, "This is the best time ever to be a tobacco farmer." The comedian says that while American smoking rates have gone down, smoking rates in the rest of the world have gone up. He displays a

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander H ...

of a chain smoking baby in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. In ...

who reportedly threw tantrums when he did not get to smoke. Oliver then states that the baby's favorite brand of cigarettes is owned by PMI, one of the tobacco companies that has "flocked" Indonesia and contributed to its smoking epidemic. He cites the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

's report on the prevalence of tobacco consumption, which stated that 67% of Indonesian males smoked in 2013. and shows an ABC News video of Indonesian schoolboys lighting cigarettes at a kiosk outside their school. He also says that PMI, by its own count, sells "seven of the world's top 15 international brands" of tobacco, including Marlboro. Afterward, Oliver tells his viewers about tobacco companies' worldwide actions to "attack laws intended to protect public health". One of these laws was in Australia, where the federal government replaced all branding on tobacco boxes with "plain packaging" photographs that showed the effects of smoking, including "the toe tag on the corpse, the cancerous mouth, the nightmarish eyeball, ndthe diseased lung". He references the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

, which states that smoking consumption had declined to historically low levels after the law was passed. Following the passage of this legislation, British American Tobacco and

Japan Tobacco Hepburn: ''Nippon Senbai Kōsha'' , type = 1985-: Public (''kabushiki gaisha'') 1949-1985: Statutory corporation , traded_as = , industry = FoodTobacco , foundation = 1898 (as Imperial Japanese Tobacco Company)1 June 1949 (as Japan Tobacco ...

unsuccessfully sued the Australian federal government in the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established following passage of the '' Judiciary Act 1903''. It ...

and, in the process, were forced to pay the government's legal fees. PMI then transferred the ownership of its Australian division to one of its other businesses located in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta ...

, taking advantage of a treaty that prevented Australia from seizing the property of businesses located in Hong Kong. PMI Hong Kong then sued Australia's government in international court, claiming that Australia was stealing the brands on its boxes by adding the photographs of the effects of smoking. (PMI would lose this lawsuit as well in July 2017.) Oliver says that Ukraine,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

had also filed complaints with the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

over Australia's tobacco-box law. He points out that according to Ukrainian MP Lesya Orobets, Ukraine and Australia did not trade any tobacco products with each other, so Ukraine's complaint was unwarranted. The comedian says that according to Bloomberg.com, these nations' complaints to the WTO have been funded by PMI, British American, and other tobacco companies. Oliver next describes tobacco companies' lawsuits against smaller nations. He says that PMI has sued

for including obligatory health warnings on tobacco boxes, and that Uruguay's legal fees had become so costly that the billionaire

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

donated $500,000 to help pay these fees. According to the International Tobacco Control Project, the law helped reduce smoking rates between 2006 and 2012, and the rate of smokers who supported federal regulation of smoking had also risen. Additionally, PMI had also sued

, which had mandated that each tobacco box sold in the country contain health warnings written in French, a language many of the nations' residents did not read. Oliver compares PMI's US$80 billion revenue in 2013 to Togo's $4.3 billion GDP during the same year. He then reads a cease-and-desist letter from PMI to the Togolese government and says that PMI had

cherry-picked Cherry picking, suppressing evidence, or the fallacy of incomplete evidence is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data th ...

a quote from the one dissenting judge in the Australia lawsuit who had ruled in favor of the tobacco industry. The comedian states that British American and its affiliates had sent similar letters to the governments of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

Jeff the Diseased Lung

Toward the end of the segment, Oliver offers the mascot Jeff the Diseased Lung for

's use, free of charge. Jeff, whose full name is "Jeff the Diseased Lung in a Cowboy Hat", is a fictional

cartoon character who smokes and coughs. He has been compared to the Marlboro Man and described as Oliver's version of

. Jeff has been described as a "cartoon-like, diseased lung cowboy created by crossing the diseased lung pictured on cigarette packs in Australia with the Marlboro Man". Similarly, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' Daniel Kreps said Jeff helps to "bridge the gap between the Marlboro Man ... and a 'lung that looks like you're breathing through baked ziti'". Alicia Lu of ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

'' wrote:

Sure, he may be an anthropomorphic lung that's decaying from being exposed to years of cigarette smoke, which might not be Big Tobacco's first choice for branding, but he's a ''cowboy''. Look at his regal cowboy hat, his spiffy red cowboy boots, and the way that cigarette nonchalantly dangles from his lips – doesn't Jeff remind you of a figure from days of yore? If you squint, I swear you'll see the Marlboro Man.

Oliver and his team promoted the character by sending shirts with his image to Togo and displaying billboards with his likeness in Uruguay. During the segment, Oliver encouraged viewers to use the

"#JeffWeCan", which later trended on

. He also called on viewers to upload images of the mascot to

Google+ Google+ (pronounced and sometimes written as Google Plus; sometimes called G+) was a social network owned and operated by Google. The network was launched on June 28, 2011, in an attempt to challenge other social networks, linking other Google p ...

accounts so Jeff would be displayed on

Google Images Google Images (previously Google Image Search) is a search engine owned by Google that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001 due to a demand for pictures of the green Versace dress of Jennifer L ...

searches for "Marlboro". A live version of Jeff appears at the end of the "Tobacco" segment. Sarene Leeds of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' called Jeff's appearance "a full-on Disneyland-ish nightmare" and wrote: "there is nothing more disturbing – or awesome – that you will see today than the sight of John Oliver dancing around a guy dressed up as a smoking, infected lung surrounded by more than a dozen children". After the segment, the HBO Shop started selling T-shirts that depicted the mascot. A performer in a Jeff costume appeared at Kick Butts Day, a protest organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and youth advocates, which was held outside Philip Morris' annual shareholders' meeting in

on May 6, 2015. The protests featured a

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...

with fifty dancers performing a choreographed dance to a song with the lyrics, "We don't want your cigarettes. Jeff we can!" The performance ended with the mascot: "rolling around on the floor in a coughing fit and loss of breath". Shana Narula, the campaign's coordinator, said:

The whole concept is to use Jeff and the hashtag #JeffWeCan and #StopMarlboro to show that these marketing tactics are not allowed and tobacco is still the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the world. And the fact is it's the only consumer product that when used as intended, it kills its user. This is very, very unique — no other consumer product does this. Most people think that tobacco is not really an issue in this country anymore and that's completely not true. That's what we want to shed light on today, in a fashion where people will take notice.

Reception

By the morning of February 16, the "Tobacco" segment had been viewed more than two million times. The segment received widespread media coverage, with several outlets praising Oliver's ability to launch successful marketing campaigns and "alter perceptions about smoking" through the creation of the mascot Jeff. '' Her Campus''s Kelly Tierney noted the enthusiasm displayed by Oliver's fans during the segment and wrote:

While John Oliver simply considers himself a comedian, it is apparent that he is doing much more than comedy. He informs us of real issues we otherwise wouldn't hear or think deeply about, which in and of itself is brilliant, but what really sets him apart is his way of calling his audience to action about these issues. He shows us that there really is something we can do and helps us to see how we can enact change.

MediaPost Communications' ''Marketing Daily'' published an article called "What Marketers Can Learn from John Oliver", in which James G. Brooks, Jr. complimented Oliver's ability to encourage audience participation. He wrote, "Jeff trended worldwide. This kind of reaction is ideal for any marketing campaign." Alex Frail of ''The Massachusetts Daily Collegian'' said, "One of his funnier bits, Jeff the Diseased Lung, took aim at the tobacco industry; landed on cigarette packs throughout Australia and on billboards throughout Uruguay; and delivered t-shirts to Togo. The power to spark a movement like Jeff the Diseased Lung isn't shared by Oliver's contemporaries." Jeffrey Wasserman, vice president and director of RAND Health, opined: "John Oliver's 'Jeff' character is of course a mockery of an iconic figure, the Marlboro Man, whose legacy turned out to be cruelly ironic. As Oliver noted in his show, four former Marlboro men died of smoking-related causes. Let's hope that 'Jeff' going viral causes current and prospective smokers—mainly teens and preteens—to recognize cigarette smoking for what it is: the most deadly habit." In July 2015, ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...

'' Julia Pressman describes the "Tobacco" segment in her article "The British Dude Who Is Winning America's War on Bullshit", in which she features five ways Oliver "has owned 2015 thus far". The website Inverse included the February 15 segment, the second most effective from the show's second season, saying it "may be the most lasting of the entire year". Furthermore, the website's Matthew Strauss wrote, "Jeff shows up when you Google Image-search 'Marlboro'; he's on bus stops in Uruguay; and he's on t-shirts in Togo. Jeff is an icon. Oliver hasn't taken down Big Tobacco, but he sure didn't make them look too good." In August, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' named Oliver, and costume designer Mikaela Wohl, winners in the "Costume designer's quietest cry for help" category for the paper's 2015 Envy Awards, a parody of the annual

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s. Randee Dawn complimented both for their hard work and humor, but said Wohl's work on "amazing" costumes, such as Jeff and Russian Space Sex Gecko, distracted her from using her "creative energies" for dressing Oliver.

Response by Philip Morris International

issued a statement which read in part:

On February 15, 2015, the 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' show dedicated a significant portion of its program to our company ..''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' is a parody show, known for getting a laugh through exaggeration and presenting partial views in the name of humor. The segment includes many mischaracterizations of our company, including our approach to marketing and regulation, which have been embellished in the spirit of comedic license ..While we recognize the tobacco industry is an easy target for comedians, we take seriously the responsibility that comes with selling a product that is an adult choice and is harmful to health ..We support and comply with thousands of regulations worldwide – including advertising restrictions, penalties for selling tobacco products to minors, and substantial health warnings on packaging. We're investing billions into developing and scientifically assessing a portfolio of products that have the potential to be less harmful and that are satisfying so smokers will switch to them. And, like any other company with a responsibility to its business partners, shareholders and employees, we ask only that laws protecting investments, including trademarks, be equally applied to us.

The statement also provided readers with a "balanced view", and facts about the issues raised by Oliver, including the company's marketing practices and "approach to regulation". Philip Morris included links to its "Be Marlboro" campaign, which is "aimed at competing for existing adult smoker market share", reasons why the company is challenging Australia and Uruguay's censorship of its trademarks, and "facts about smoking prevalence in Australia after the introduction of plain packaging". Chris Morran of ''

Consumerist ''Consumerist'' (also known as ''The Consumerist'') was a non-profit consumer affairs website owned by Consumer Media LLC, a subsidiary of ''Consumer Reports'', with content created by a team of full-time reporters and editors. The site's foc ...

'' said Philip Morris did a "really poor job of trying to defend its actions". He wrote, " ..this should be where the very serious folks at Philip Morris go point by point and explain where Oliver exaggerated and embellished, but they don't. It's a classic non-response in which the accused tried to undercut the accuser's argument by claiming he can't possibly be providing the truth." He noted that Philip Morris does not deny making legal threats to suppress regulations on cigarette packaging and questions how the company: " xpectsto be taken seriously when it readily admits that the products it sells are 'harmful to health'". Furthermore, Chris Morran takes aim at the company's claim that it " upportsand omplieswith thousands of regulations worldwide", writing:

..the tobacco industry doesn't support these regulations. It only supports the ones it can't fight in a courtroom. Once it loses a battle – or realizes a battle can't be won – then suddenly Big Tobacco, just like every other heavily regulated industry, claims to support and abide by the rules.

Finally, he said of the statement's final sentence: "That's honestly the best Philip Morris and Big Tobacco can come up with – We've spent a lot of money and have a lot of investors so please don't mess with our packaging because it might cause us to earn smaller profits ..It's an argument that might be tenable if cigarettes did anything other than poison the people who buy them – or live in the same house with them."

References

External links

''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'': Season 2 Episode 26
on