30 November 2008 - Sunday Star-Times
ASH had this letter published in response to an article in the Sunday Star-Times about how British American Tobacco is a ‘funky, friendly and fun’ place to work.
“De-funked
Funky, friendly and fun, with time off to plant trees- that’s life at work for the folk who make our cigarettes [‘A Breath of Fresh Air’, November 16].
I wonder if British American Tobacco would extend the tree-planting scheme to include time off to lay flowers on the graves of 4500 people who were killed by their products last year? I wonder how friendly the families of the tobacco victims would be to the BAT staff who are ‘funking it up’ with the proceeds of the product that killed their loved ones.
It’s no wonder BAT has to be such a fun place to work. The gorgeous harbour view offices, plenty of time off, community work and overseas travel all help to ease the conscience when your job is to addict people to a product that kills one in two of your customers. The motto to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom is ‘lest we forget’; it seems the motto for BAT seems nearer to ‘best we forget’ those who gave their lives for our funk. Ironically, the work ‘funk’ is an obsolete term for smoking – something not a lot of BAT employees interviewed seem keen on doing themselves.
Frankly, BAT can funk off.
Ben Youdan (Director, ASH New Zealand), Auckland"
