In the early 1950s, when scientific research began to document the link between smoking cigarettes and cancer, the tobacco industry went into a ‘PR fallout … [known] as the 1954 emergency’ (smoking hacks). The panicked industry formed a phony front group titled The Tobacco Institute Research Committee (TIRC). The roll of the TIRC was to ‘lull the public into a false sense of security concerning smoking and health’ (smokers hacks); and they ‘promised to learn the facts’ (smokers hacks). This is an example of astro-turfing. Astro-turfing is when corporations create paid lobby groups, posing under the cover of genuine concerned citizens, whose objective is to promote their own businesses. Instead of doing as they promised and working for the good
