# Wake-Up Call for Philip Morris!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wake-up-call-for-philip-morris/73902>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 26, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wake-up-call-for-philip-morris/73902 "2001-07-26T22:59:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wake-up-call-for-philip-morris/73902/1 "2001-07-26T22:59:31Z")

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This item must have appeared in papers in areas other than just Southern California!  
A spomesman for Philip Morris said ‘it’s just as well that older people die; that way they won’t be a financial drain on the system!’  
Good God, am I hearing right? Wasn’t a philosophy like this once used to kill Anne Frank?  
Let’s carry it to its logical conclusion, and point out that the top executives of Philip Morris itself are a financial drain on the company’s coffers–salaries and stuff. Practice what you preach.  
Or maybe the company’s executives know better than to smoke.

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**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wake-up-call-for-philip-morris/73902/2 "2001-07-26T23:33:48Z")

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Yep, I just heard about this on NPR–something about how a top Philip Morris exec said that smoking was actually beneficial for society because they die before they can collect all that Social Security, Medicare, etc. Or something like that. (I didn’t hear the whole report, so I don’t know who said it and under what circumstances it was said.)

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**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wake-up-call-for-philip-morris/73902/3 "2001-07-26T23:55:05Z")

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I’m in no way defending Phillip Morris – but that has got to be the sad ramblings of one man and not a company philosophy. There’s no way they can be that stupid.

First of all, the points have been made that the theory of selective death to boost society is lunacy. Secondly, they’ve been whining for years about how there’s been no proof that cigarettes cause death and all that happy horse hockey.  
This statement would pretty much be saying, “Hey, we had our fingers crossed. You’ll thank us when the Grandma’s hospital bills stop rolling in.”

I’d say spokesman Foot-In-The-Mouth will be clearing his office out any day now.

But the real reason I decided to respond to this thread is this:

My [SilkQuit](http://www.silkquit.org/main/index.html) quit-meter …  
**Smoke-free for: Two months, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 59 seconds. 1224 cigarettes not smoked. $306.20 saved. Time tacked on to the end: 4 days, 6 hours, 0 minutes.**

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**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wake-up-call-for-philip-morris/73902/4 "2001-07-27T00:05:54Z")

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Well, their top executives in the [Czech Republic](http://www.msnbc.com/news/605375.asp?0dm=N13MH), anyway.