Death Marketing-1

When CSR deals in death

British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) has been promoting its so called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities on mainstream media and social networking platforms, claiming that the company is a partner to the government in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is an ill-motivated campaign ahead of national budget. The true purpose behind such promotion is to interrupt and interfere in any attempt to increase tobacco taxes and create an illusion of positivity so that policymakers and government bodies grant it business benefits. In reality, tobacco companies' so-called benevolence becomes hollow considering the fact that their products claim 126,000 lives a year in Bangladesh. The existing tobacco control law is not equipped enough to put a total end to tobacco companies' CSR activities. Such loopholes are now being exploited by tobacco companies and CSR has emerged as their foremost tool to whitewash the devastations they lay on society. So, without any delay, all CSR activities of tobacco companies should be terminated by amending the tobacco control law in line with FCTC.