Evangelism Strategies from the Tabacco Industry

Here are a few facts. In the U.S., about 440,000 people die a tabacco related death every year. This is more than auto accidents, homicide, AIDS, drugs, and fires combined. There are at any given point, about 50 million smokers in the U.S. That is a lot of death, so my next question was, what are the tobacco companies doing to combat the fact that their clients have a high turn over rate? Advertizing! Every day the tobacco industry spends $42 million on advertizing. Is that money wasted? Apparently not, as every day about 3,900 youth try a cigarette for the first time, and about 1,500 youth a day become daily smokers.

What are the cigarette companies doing that makes them so successful? There is no way to avoid knowing, with all the commercials and health officials visiting schools these days, that cigarette smoking can, and very often leads to (premature) death. So in spite of all the warnings and attempts made to make people aware of the correlation between cigarette smoking and death, seemingly none are deterred. Are people just dumb and get fooled? Are they forgetful and don't realize the consequences? Is the advertizing that influencial? What kind of advertizing are they doing, and can I get my hands on it?

I am also in an industry that is desperately in need of clients. Not because there is a high turn over rate, in fact, there should be no turn over rate because once you join the industry there is no reason to ever leave. Even death does not stop this industry's growth. The benefits of joining it are countless. The promise is eternal life, far from the promise of the tabacco industry, who gives death. Yet, how many are added to the industry that I work for daily? Sadly, not many.

The Christian industry needs to work on its advertizing strategies. If cigarettes can sell and they lead to death, then Christianity can certainly sell by offering eternal life. Maybe we need to be more aggressive in our sharing, and less judgmental and choosy of our cliental. If we could gain 1,500 youth a day in the Christian industry, there's no doubt there would be much rejoicing in heaven.