{{Short description|Tobacco industry marketing plan}} {{about|the RJR Tobacco project|other projects called "scum"|Scum (disambiguation)}} {{redirect|Project Sourdough|other projects called "sourdough"|Sourdough (disambiguation)}}
'''Project SCUM''' was a plan proposed in 1995 by [[R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company]] (RJR) to sell cigarettes to members of the "[[alternative lifestyle]]" areas of San Francisco, in particular the large number of [[gay]] people in the [[The Castro|Castro]] and homeless people in the [[Tenderloin, San Francisco, California|Tenderloin]]. The acronym "SCUM" officially stood for "subculture urban marketing". Perhaps recognizing the offensive nature of its label, the marketing plan was later renamed '''Project Sourdough'''.<ref>Anne Landman, [https://web.archive.org/web/20030525040449/http://tobaccodocuments.org/landman/518021121.html Anne Landman's Collection: Project Scum], original Project Scum document images with analysis, Tobacco Documents Online.</ref>
== Project ==
An anti-smoking campaign called [[TheTruth.com|Truth]] targeted R. J. Reynolds for Project SCUM, arguing that it not only showed the usual exploitative tobacco marketing techniques but added to them an explicit contempt or even hatred for the people it was trying to market its products to. ''[[SF Weekly]]'' reported: <blockquote>"This is a hate crime, plain and simple," said [[Kathleen DeBold]], director of the Washington, D.C.–based [[Mautner Project]] for Lesbians With Cancer. "What else do you call it when a group thinks of gays and lesbians as 'scum', and then targets us with something that kills?"</blockquote>
<blockquote>San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly, who represents the Tenderloin District, is equally upset. "It's racist, it's classist, it's oppressive. And it is really disheartening to hear. But I can't say that I am surprised. Low-income communities and people of color have always been derided and taken advantage of. Obviously, the tobacco companies feel like they can make money off other people's misery."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-05-02/news/smoking-gun/ |title=San Francisco – News – Smoking Gun<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2008-04-03 |archive-date=2015-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704001925/http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-05-02/news/smoking-gun/ |url-status=dead }}</ref></blockquote>
Project SCUM documents came to light after a court order forced R. J. Reynolds to hand them over during the State of California's litigation against tobacco companies. R. J. Reynolds's marketing in the 1990s of its Camel and Winston cigarette brands drew the attention of attorneys representing California cities and counties. Project SCUM highlighted how tobacco companies in the 1990s were targeting young adults to be lifetime smokers.<ref name="attorney">[http://www.lieffcabraser.com/Case-Center/Multi-State-Tobacco-Suits-and-Master-Settlement.shtml Multi-State Tobacco Litigation - www.lieffcabraser.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108150133/http://www.lieffcabraser.com/Case-Center/Multi-State-Tobacco-Suits-and-Master-Settlement.shtml |date=January 8, 2016 }}</ref>
Revelations about Project SCUM were among the mountains of evidence ensuring that anti-tobacco litigation would continue. In 1998, a resolution of the litigation came about in the [[Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement|Master Settlement Agreement]] between more than 40 state attorneys general and the tobacco industry.
==See also== * [[American Legacy Foundation]] * [[Operation Berkshire]] * [[TheTruth.com|"Truth" ad campaign]] * [[Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web |url=http://tobaccodocuments.org/landman/518021121.html |title=Tobacco company's internal document detailing Project SCUM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727225312/http://tobaccodocuments.org/landman/518021121.html |archive-date=July 27, 2014 |series=Anne Landman's Collection}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509125601/http://www.americanlegacy.org/2114.aspx American Legacy Foundation's statement on Project SCUM] * [http://www.glma.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Feature.showFeature&CategoryID=5&FeatureID=112 Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's statement on Project SCUM]
{{Reynolds American}}
[[Category:Class discrimination]] [[Category:Types of marketing]] [[Category:Tobacco advertising]] [[Category:1995 in LGBTQ history]] [[Category:LGBTQ history in San Francisco]] [[Category:LGBTQ and the economy]] [[Category:Smoking in the United States]] [[Category:Homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area]] [[Category:R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company]] [[Category:Social class in the United States]] [[Category:1995 in San Francisco]]