In 1981, when I became Manager of Wrangler NASCAR Special Events, one of my first trips was a few miles west of my office in Greensboro, NC on I-40 to meet with T. Wayne Robertson at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Winston-Salem, NC. "T. Wayne" at the time headed up the Winston part of RJR Special Events under Ralph Seagraves. T. Wayne would take the top special events post when Ralph retired, heading up the newly formed Sports Marketing Enterprises division of RJR.
During that 1981 visit to RJR corporate HQ, I noticed every desk in every office had a red nameplate-like sign with white lettering that read, "Thank You for Smoking."
I asked T.Wayne if I could get one one of those desk plaques and a week or so later one arrived at my office. At the time I was a 3-pack-a-day smoker and continued that habit from age age 17-60, forty-three years of corrupting my sinuses, destroying my gums, leaving me short of breath and all the other wonderful things associated with smoking.
It's now been a little over six years since I quit. I'm not some non-smoking evangelist (my dad spent 48 years in the cigarette business and my father-in-law raised tobacco) , but it is good again to taste my food without a half shaker of salt and to no longer sniffle all winter.
We're all pretty familiar with the story of RJR/Winston coming to NASCAR stock car racing around 1970 and what happened at all levels when they left.
Just in case you missed it... in a sign of the times... RJR announced last week it was banning smoking in its offices where every desk one sported the "Thank You for Smoking" sign.
As the 1960s era Bob Dylan song stated... "The times they are a changing."
Camel cigarette maker Reynolds bans smoking from offices
Bloomberg 
By
MICHELLE COFFEY
The No. 2 cigarette maker in the country has told its employees that it will no longer permit smoking inside its office buildings starting next year.
Reynolds American Inc. RAI, +0.81% the maker of Camel cigarettes, previously allowed employees to light up at their desks or offices, in conference rooms, hallways and elevators, but had banned smoking from its manufacturing facility, cafeteria and fitness center, according to Reynolds spokesman David Howard.
Reynolds is planning to build separate facilities for employees who want to smoke inside, Howard said. The smoking ban goes into effect Jan. 1, 2015, and applies to all office buildings across the U.S. including subsidiaries, but doesnt include smokeless tobacco products such as e-cigarettes.
We believe its the right thing to do and the right time to do it, Howard told MarketWatch. It will better accommodate both non-smokers and smokers who work in and visit our facilities.
Howard also cited data from health organizations reflecting a smaller population of smokers.
Reynolds has 5,200 employees and about 20% are smokers, according to Howard.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/16/16 07:54:05AM
