Unfiltered: Big Tobacco’s Exploitation of Black America
Since the 1950’s, African American communities have been a target of Big Tobacco’s most dangerous products. And as a consequence, Black people are significantly more likely to die from smoking-related diseases.
Way to Quit and Project Success asked us to create a community activation to expose Big Tobacco’s harmful legacy of predatory marketing. So we assembled our team, led by R&R’s Black employee resource group, ouRRvoice. Appointing an ERG to head the creative direction was unconventional, but proved critical to bringing forth raw, personal perspectives. With firsthand knowledge of the smoking habits rooted in the Black community, the team created “Unfiltered: Big Tobacco’s Exploitation of Black America.”
The showcase featured a bombardment of original advertisements, magazine ads and commercials front-lining Big Tobacco’s relentless marketing tactics. It all came to a head with a darkly sarcastic twist, using exaggerated alterations of the original tobacco ads to challenge Big Tobacco on its own turf, provoking the audience to decipher messaging they may have overlooked for decades.
Despite Big Tobacco’s tactics persisting to this day, the exhibit carved out a vital space for advocacy, significantly boosting engagement for the 2024 Black and African American Health Needs Assessment. Its success opened the door to an expanded digital version of the “Unfiltered” exhibit and continues to drive us closer to dismantling a system, purposefully built on smoke and mirrors.
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