Project SCUM

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 Castro and homeless people in the 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.

An anti-smoking campaign called 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:

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.

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 Master Settlement Agreement between more than 40 state attorneys general and the tobacco industry.

• American Legacy Foundation
• Operation Berkshire
• "Truth" ad campaign
• Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement

• "Tobacco company's internal document detailing Project SCUM". Anne Landman's Collection. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014.
• American Legacy Foundation's statement on Project SCUM
• Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's statement on Project SCUM