Dead Man Will Be Remembered for Spreading Oral Cancer
Louis Bantle, the former marketing director and chairman of U.S. Tobacco, died earlier this month at the age of 81 from emphysema and lung cancer. Bantle was most famous for convincing millions of teenagers to dip.
The WSJ chronicles Bantle's work from the 1960s through the 1990s, during which time he helped turn snuff into a billion-dollar business and tripled its use among 18-24 year-olds.
"We must sell the use of tobacco in the mouth and appeal to young people," he said, according to the minutes of a marketing meeting in 1968. "We hope to start a fad." [...]
"If you go to high school in Texas and you don't have a can of snuff in your pocket, you're out," Mr. Bantle told Forbes in 1980.
Your legacy will live on, Mr. Bantle.
