The United Methodist Church is strongly opposed to marketing tobacco products to young people. Since 1996, our Board has monitored the activities of the tobacco industry and educated United Methodists about the dangers of tobacco and the abusive practices of corporations like Philip Morris. Additionally, our Board has led the Church in advocating for domestic and international laws that would reduce youth smoking and better regulate the tobacco industry. Our Board is particularly concerned that the burden of tobacco-related death and disease is rapidly shifting to developing countries. We firmly believe that it is an unethical conflict of interest for Philip Morris to participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or any other aspects of public health policy, including the issue of the FDA regulating tobacco.
Boycotts have a long history in the Methodist movement.
John Wesley urged his followers not to purchase goods made with slave labor. The United Methodist Church and its predecessors have participated in many boycotts, including boycotts related to farm workers, apartheid in South Africa, and infant formula marketing. Now, we would like to see the Marlboro Man permanently ride off into the sunset. On March 1 of this year, several staff members of the General Board of Church and Society met with Philip Morris executives Ellen Merlo and Jay Poole, to talk about the Kraft Boycott that we have now joined. They talked at great length about the youth smoking prevention programs that Philip Morris has recently developed.