Jimmy has a blog about how tobacco companies are building and sponsoring school in china.
This is a very controversial point because what is education worth? Is it worth having kids thinking smoking is cool? Does the company doing something good for bad reasons make it okay? In this case I don’t think so because they are using it as a slimy strategy to take advantage of people. This crosses a line when it comes to business ethics. Yes, the goal for a company is usually to make money and this will probably ensure them of that that but taking advantage of people should never be your strategy. If this was in Canada it would get shut down, whether by the better business bureau or by people’s protest.
The only reason they are doing this is because it gives them prime access to a target market for cigarettes. The people they will reach are poor, uneducated and most importantly impressionable children. If they get taught smoking is okay and normal they will, that is just how social norms work. If the tobacco companies take away their biggest competition, education on the health effects, they won the battle.