Trust Us: we’re the tobacco industry

Clive Bates

Director

Action on Smoking and Health

Source

• Internal documents– US litigation – 40 million pages– BAT, Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds– On-line and paper

How it works - part 1

Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers... If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline, just as a population which does not give birth will eventually dwindle.

RJ Reynolds, 1984

How it works - part 2

A cigarette for the beginner is a symbolic act. I am no longer my mother's child, I'm tough, I am an adventurer, I'm not square …

How it works - part 3

A cigarette for the beginner is a symbolic act. I am no longer my mother's child, I'm tough, I am an adventurer, I'm not square …

As the force from the psychological symbolism subsides, the pharmacological effect takes over to sustain the habit.

Philip Morris,1969

Advertising

“The other major promotion in Turkey was centered around the World Cup. Football is by far the leading sport in Turkey, and the World Cup provided an opportunity too good to miss.

“However, due to copyright and legal issues, Marlboro could not be involved in a World Cup promotion. So we turned to a publisher to get around the problem. … The idea this time was to…produce a quality 36-page World Cup Guide created by the paper and sponsored by Marlboro.

Philip Morris 1990

Formula One?

“…[B]y sponsoring Formula One respondents claimed it made them believe that Benson & Hedges was a big, major league, very powerful brand with plenty of money. It also lent associations to the brand with young, fast, racy, adult, exciting, aspirational but attainable environments. It was coherent with all that respondents knew of the brand but also extended associative territory to make the brand more youthful, more dynamic, and more exciting.”Colquhoun Associates for Gallaher, 1996

Addiction

“The cigarette should be conceived not as a product but as a package. The product is nicotine.…Think of the cigarette pack as a storage container for a day’s supply of nicotine.…Think of a cigarette as a dispenser for a dose unit of nicotine. Think of a puff of smoke as the vehicle of nicotine.…Smoke is beyond question the most optimised vehicle of nicotine and the cigarette the most optimised dispenser of smoke.”

• Philip Morris 1972

Children

‘‘The younger smoker is of pre-eminent importance: significant in numbers, “lead in” to prime market, starts brand preference patterning….

BAT, 1974

Turkish children

“This is a market with tremendous potential. The rate of population growth is 2.2. percent each year, and 40 percent of the population is under 18.”

Philip Morris Turkey, 1997

Turkish tobacco growers

• “…we will…recruit and train a Corporate Affairs Manager. This individual will initially focus on identifying and developing relationships with the leaders of the ‘seed to market’ elements of the Turkish tobacco industry, learning about the decision making process of the government and building relationships with the decision makers, and seeking opportunities to cultivate quietly a positive corporate image for Philip Morris. Particular care will be taken in developing relations with leaders of the tobacco growers.”Philip Morris, 1987

Front-groups and propaganda

“Link our smokers’ rights programs with well-targeted PR campaigns to counter misinformation and bias, in particular in the Nordic markets; extend the program to Switzerland, Turkey, and the GCC.”

Philip Morris, 1989

Industry youth programmes

“If we don’t do something fast to project the sense of industry responsibility regarding the youth access issue, we are going to be looking at severe marketing restrictions in a very short time. Those restrictions will pave the way for equally severe legislation or regulation on where adults are allowed to smoke.”Philip Morris, 1995

Low tar cigarettes

Compensation may be defined as:- “Subconscious changes made to the smoking pattern by a smoker in an attempt […] to equalise the deliveries of products which have different deliveries when smoked by machine under standard conditions.”

BAT, 1978

Low tar cigarettes

Elastic/ Compensatible Products - Irrespective of the ethics involved, we should develop alternative designs (that do not invite obvious criticism) which will allow the smoker to obtain significant enhanced deliveries should he so wish.

BAT Co., 1984

Smuggling

“SUBJECT: DNP BRAZIL – ARGENTINA

I am advised by Souza Cruz that the BAT Industries Chairman has endorsed the approach that the Brazilian Operating Group increase its share of the Argentinean market via DNP.”

BAT, 1993

Price fixing

“BATCo suggested an aggressive price increase to be negotiated at a local level for DNP to be implemented if possible by the end of August.

…

“Following action on DNP PMI suggested we should pursue a DP price increase. PMI wanted linkage

between the DNP increase. …”Meeting of BAT and Philip Morris, 1993

Concealment

"Niger: Discussion was held concerning direct imports to Nigeria through Mr. Adji … [who] would disguise the cigarette importations by calling the shipment something else, e.g. matches.

Meeting of BAT and SOREPEX, 1987.

Control over illegal markets

“Kent Super Lights ... DNP product should be launched two weeks after the DP product has been launched."

“Lucky Strike ... withdraw from the DNP market the 20’s and 10’s versions.”

BAT, 1994

Conclusion…

More information

www.ash.org.uk