"Ah, it's all publicity." Big waved a hand dismissively. The tobacco god wasn't inclined to let his conscience get all weighed down by the ever-growing flood of stories about smoking-related illness and tragedy. Oh, it was all very sad, to be sure, but it wasn't as though he'd ever forced any of them to pick up the cigarette. This was a free country and a free market. And the thing about a free market? Is that nothing comes for free. You wanted a rush of smooth flavour, well, Big wanted a little piece of that warm life pumping through your veins. And hell, all the whistleblowers making noise these days, you couldn't honestly say you hadn't known what was at stake going in.
He chuckled at the mention of weight loss. "That was a good one wasn't it? Like, oh, that thing they say about the best lies being based in truth." The fact was that smoking did help strip off the pounds, but not by burning off fat. No, what cigarettes did was eat away at humans' muscle mass, giving them the appearance of being thinner while the fat remained, and the girls grew less and less healthy. "It's not exactly 'Come to Marlboro Country' but, you know, you take what you can get."