Transferring Racial/Ethnic Marketing Strategies From Tobacco to Food Corporations: Philip Morris and Kraft General Foods.

Objectives. To investigate the transfer of marketing knowledge and infrastructure for targeting racial/ethnic minorities from the tobacco to the food and beverage industry in the United States.Methods. We analyzed internal industry documents between April 2018 and April 2019 from the University of California San Francisco Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library, triangulated with other sources.Results. In the 1980s, Philip Morris Companies purchased General Foods and Kraft Foods and created Kraft General Foods. Through centralized marketing initiatives, Philip Morris Companies directly transferred expertise, personnel, and resources from its tobacco to its food subsidiaries, creating a racial/ethnic minority-targeted food and beverage marketing program modeled on its successful cigarette program. When Philip Morris Companies sold Kraft General Foods in 2007, Kraft General Foods had a "fully integrated" minority marketing program that combined target marketing with racial/ethnic events promotion, racial/ethnic media outreach, and corporate donations to racial/ethnic leadership groups, making it a food industry leader.Conclusions. The tobacco industry directly transferred racial/ethnic minority marketing knowledge and infrastructure to food and beverage companies. Given the substantial growth of food and beverage corporations, their targeting of vulnerable populations, and obesity-related disparities, public policy and community action is needed to address corporate target marketing.

Tobacco control in Nepal during a time of government turmoil (1960-2006).

BACKGROUND: Nepal was a monarchy, then a dictatorship, then a democracy. This paper reviews how tobacco control progressed in Nepal in the context of these changes in government from 1950 through 2006. METHODS: We triangulated tobacco industry documents, newspaper articles and key informant interviews. RESULTS: Until 1983, the tobacco industry was mostly state owned. Transnational tobacco companies entered the Nepalese market through ventures with Surya Tobacco Company Private Limited (with Imperial Tobacco Company and British American Tobacco) in 1983 and Seti Cigarette Factory Limited (with Philip Morris International [PMI]) in 1985. Seminars and conferences on tobacco, celebrations of World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) and efforts by WHO helped promote tobacco control in Nepal beginning in the 1970s. Tobacco advocates in Nepal pushed the government to issue executive orders banning smoking in public places in 1992 and tobacco advertising in electronic media in 1998, and to introduce a tobacco health tax in 1993. The tobacco industry lobbied against these measures and succeeded in keeping the tobacco tax low by challenging it in court. Tobacco advocates sued the government in 2003 and 2005, resulting in a June 2006 Supreme Court decision upholding the smoking and advertising bans and requiring the government to enact a comprehensive tobacco control law. CONCLUSIONS: Political instability, conflict, weak governance and the dictatorship significantly affect tobacco control activities in low-income and middle-income countries. Nepal shows that tobacco control advocates can take advantage of global events, such as WNTD, and use domestic litigation to maintain support from civil societies and to advocate for stronger tobacco control policies.

Origins of tobacco harm reduction in the UK: the 'Product Modification Programme' (1972-1991).

OBJECTIVE: To better understand the current embrace of long-term nicotine maintenance by British governmental agencies and tobacco harm reduction by several leading British public health organisations, describe the context and deliberations of the UK's first formal tobacco risk reduction programme: 'Product Modification'. METHODS: Analysis of previously secret tobacco industry documents, news archives and Parliamentary debate records. RESULTS: From 1972 to 1991, the British government sought to investigate safer smoking through the 'product modification programme'. The Independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health (ISCSH) advised the British government on these efforts and collaborated with the tobacco industry, with which government then negotiated to determine policy. The ISCSH operated from four industry-backed premises, which contributed to the ISCSH's support of safer smoking: (1) reduced toxicity indicates reduced risk; (2) collaboration with the tobacco industry will not undermine tobacco control; (3) nicotine addiction is unavoidable; (4) to curtail cigarette use, solutions must be consumer-approved (ie, profitable). These premises often undermined tobacco control efforts and placed the ISCSH at odds with broader currents in public health. The product modification programme was abandoned in 1991 as the European Community began requiring members to adopt upper tar limits, rendering the ISCSH redundant. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Endorsements of reduced harm tobacco products share the same four premises that supported the product modification programme. Current tobacco harm reduction premises and policies supported by the British government and leading British public health organisations may reflect the historical influence of the tobacco industry.

[The Scientific Commission of the Swiss Cigarette Manufacturers Association : a historical overview]. / La Commission scientifique de l'Association suisse des fabricants de cigarettes : un aperçu historique.

The Scientific Commission (SC) of the Swiss Cigarette Manufacturers Association (SCMA) has been active between 1962 and the end of the 1990s. The commission fulfilled multiple tasks in the service of the tobacco industry : planning of external joint research, public relations work, lobbying, and collaboration with public authorities as well as organisations with a similar mission as the SC itself. In addition, it monitored research on smoking and health, reviewed studies that were detrimental to the cigarette manufacturers' interest and organized pro-tobacco scientific meetings. The commission was thus a powerful tool at the disposal of the tobacco industry. It also had a major impact on public health through perpetuating the pseudo-controversy about the negative effects of smoking on health.

La Commission scientifique (CS) de l'Association suisse des fabricants de cigarettes (ASFC) a été active entre 1962 et la fin des années 1990. Parmi les multiples tâches qui lui incombaient, elle planifiait la recherche collective de l'industrie du tabac, lui servait de porte-parole auprès des médias, exerçait du lobbying, et collaborait avec des institutions officielles ainsi que des organisations qui lui étaient apparentées. En outre, la CS suivait l'état de la recherche sur la question tabac et santé, critiquait les études défavorables aux cigarettiers et organisait des événements scientifiques de complaisance. Il ressort que cette commission a constitué un puissant outil au service de l'industrie du tabac et, qu'en entretenant une pseudo-controverse sur les effets nocifs du tabagisme, elle a eu un impact majeur sur la santé publique.

Tobacco-control policies in tobacco-growing states: where tobacco was king.

UNLABELLED: POLICY POINTS: The tobacco companies prioritized blocking tobacco-control policies in tobacco-growing states and partnered with tobacco farmers to oppose tobacco-control policies. The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, which settled state litigation against the cigarette companies, the 2004 tobacco-quota buyout, and the companies' increasing use of foreign tobacco led to a rift between the companies and tobacco farmers. In 2003, the first comprehensive smoke-free local law was passed in a major tobacco-growing state, and there has been steady progress in the region since then. Health advocates should educate the public and policymakers on the changing reality in tobacco-growing states, notably the major reduction in the volume of tobacco produced. CONTEXT: The 5 major tobacco-growing states (Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) are disproportionately affected by the tobacco epidemic, with higher rates of smoking and smoking-induced disease. These states also have fewer smoke-free laws and lower tobacco taxes, 2 evidence-based policies that reduce tobacco use. Historically, the tobacco farmers and hospitality associations allied with the tobacco companies to oppose these policies. METHODS: This research is based on 5 detailed case studies of these states, which included key informant interviews, previously secret tobacco industry documents (available at http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu), and media articles. This was supplemented with additional tobacco document and media searches specifically for this article. FINDINGS: The tobacco companies were particularly concerned about blocking tobacco-control policies in the tobacco-growing states by promoting a pro-tobacco culture, beginning in the late 1960s. Nevertheless, since 2003, there has been rapid progress in the tobacco-growing states' passage of smoke-free laws. This progress came after the alliance between the tobacco companies and the tobacco farmers fractured and hospitality organizations stopped opposing smoke-free laws. In addition, infrastructure built by National Cancer Institute research projects (COMMIT and ASSIST) led to long-standing tobacco-control coalitions that capitalized on these changes. Although tobacco production has dramatically fallen in these states, pro-tobacco sentiment still hinders tobacco-control policies in the major tobacco-growing states. CONCLUSIONS: The environment has changed in the tobacco-growing states, following a fracture of the alliance between the tobacco companies and their former allies (tobacco growers and hospitality organizations). To continue this progress, health advocates should educate the public and policymakers on the changing reality in the tobacco-growing states, notably the great reduction in the number of tobacco farmers as well as in the volume of tobacco produced.

Local Nordic tobacco interests collaborated with multinational companies to maintain a united front and undermine tobacco control policies.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse how local tobacco companies in the Nordic countries, individually and through National Manufacturers' Associations, cooperated with British American Tobacco and Philip Morris in denying the health hazards of smoking and undermining tobacco control. METHODS: Analysis of tobacco control policies in the Nordic countries and tobacco industry documents. RESULTS: Nordic countries were early adopters of tobacco control policies. The multinational tobacco companies recognised this fact and mobilised to oppose these policies, in part because of fear that they would set unfavourable precedents. Since at least 1972, the Nordic tobacco companies were well informed about and willing to participate in the multinational companies activities to obscure the health dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke and to oppose tobacco control policies. Cooperation between multinational companies, Nordic national manufacturer associations and local companies ensured a united front on smoking and health issues in the Nordic area that was consistent with the positions that the multinational companies were taking. This cooperation delayed smoke-free laws and undermined other tobacco control measures. CONCLUSIONS: Local tobacco companies worked with multinational companies to undermine tobacco control in distant and small Nordic markets because of concern that pioneering policies initiated in Nordic countries would spread to bigger market areas. Claims by the local Nordic companies that they were not actively involved with the multinationals are not supported by the facts. These results also demonstrate that the industry appreciates the global importance of both positive and negative public health precedents in tobacco control.

An overview of the China National Tobacco Corporation and State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.

OBJECTIVES: China is facing a serious public health problem in active and passive smokers. Confronted with this, China has taken some measures to control tobacco. However, this information has not been surveyed at academic level. Our aim is to investigate information relating to tobacco controls in China. METHODS: To find information relating to tobacco control, we reviewed and analysed the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) and State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) mainly by systematic examination of documents made available in the University of California, San Francisco Legacy Tobacco Documents Library and China Tobacco database. RESULTS: Eleven relevant documents met our research purpose, and 18 further relevant documents were found on the CNTC, STMA and Tobacco China database websites. As a result, 29 relevant articles were included in our analysis. We describe the CNTC and STMA's history, structure, and relation to the Chinese Government ministry and to other tobacco companies, and China's tobacco control in detail. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese cigarette market is dominated by a state-owned monopoly, the STMA. Under the protection of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Tobacco Monopoly, the STMA controls all aspects of the tobacco industry. As far as the Chinese tobacco monopoly is concerned, although smoking harms people's health, restraining smoking threatens social stability and government income, which may be more serious problems for any government. China still has a long way to go in creating smoke-free environments.

Inventing conflicts of interest: a history of tobacco industry tactics.

Confronted by compelling peer-reviewed scientific evidence of the harms of smoking, the tobacco industry, beginning in the 1950s, used sophisticated public relations approaches to undermine and distort the emerging science. The industry campaign worked to create a scientific controversy through a program that depended on the creation of industry-academic conflicts of interest. This strategy of producing scientific uncertainty undercut public health efforts and regulatory interventions designed to reduce the harms of smoking. A number of industries have subsequently followed this approach to disrupting normative science. Claims of scientific uncertainty and lack of proof also lead to the assertion of individual responsibility for industrially produced health risks.

A brief overview of the tobacco industry in the last 20 years.

Since the launch of Tobacco Control 20 years ago, there have been several changes in the tobacco industry worldwide. The goal of this commentary is to present some of the keys changes of the past two decades. This time is marked by mergers and acquisitions that led to the existence, today, of four major transnational tobacco companies: Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco. The possible role of the China National Tobacco Corporation in the world tobacco market is also discussed. In addition, in the past decade there was an increase in tobacco companies' investment in non-cigarette forms of nicotine delivery. The impact of these changes for tobacco control policy is briefly discussed.

Product liability.

Product liability litigation has made important contributions to tobacco control, especially by uncovering incriminating industry documents and publicizing product dangers and industry misconduct. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 19 encourages Parties to strengthen legal procedures to facilitate these lawsuits and to establish mechanisms for mutual assistance. Creative lawyers will continue to find ways to bring the tobacco industry to justice in forums around the world.

Tobacco industry consumer research on smokeless tobacco users and product development.

Since 2006, RJ Reynolds (RJR) and Philip Morris have both introduced new smokeless "snus" tobacco products. We analyzed previously secret tobacco industry documents describing the history of RJR and Philip Morris's consumer research, smokeless product development, and marketing strategies. We found that RJR had invested in smokeless research, development, and marketing since 1968. RJR first targeted low-income males through sampling and sponsorship at fishing, rodeo, and baseball events, and through advertising portraying the user as "hard working." In the early 1990s, Philip Morris and RJR hoped to attract more urban, female smokeless users. The current "snus" campaigns appear to appeal to these targeted consumers and smokers in smoke-free environments. These efforts may expand the tobacco market and undermine smoking cessation.

"Our reach is wide by any corporate standard": how the tobacco industry helped defeat the Clinton health plan and why it matters now.

Contemporary health care reformers, like those who promoted the failed Clinton era plan, face opposition from multiple corporate interests. However, scant literature has examined how relationships between corporations and other stakeholders, such as think tanks and advocacy groups, shape health care reform debate. We show how the 2 biggest US tobacco companies, Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds, and their trade association coordinated in mobilizing ideologically diverse constituencies to help defeat the Clinton plan. Unwittingly perhaps, some reform supporters advanced the tobacco industry's public relations blitz, contributing to perceptions of public opposition to the plan. As the current reform debate unfolds, this case highlights the importance of funding transparency for interpreting the activities of think tanks, advocacy groups, and "grassroots" movements.

The "We Card" program: tobacco industry "youth smoking prevention" as industry self-preservation.

The "We Card" program is the most ubiquitous tobacco industry "youth smoking prevention" program in the United States, and its retailer materials have been copied in other countries. The program's effectiveness has been questioned, but no previous studies have examined its development, goals, and uses from the tobacco industry's perspective. On the basis of our analysis of tobacco industry documents released under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, we concluded that the We Card program was undertaken for 2 primary purposes: to improve the tobacco industry's image and to reduce regulation and the enforcement of existing laws. Policymakers should be cautious about accepting industry self-regulation at face value, both because it redounds to the industry's benefit and because it is ineffective.

Tobacco industry and public health responses to state and local efforts to end tobacco sales from 1969-2020.

BACKGROUND: In June 2019, Beverly Hills, California, became the first American city in the 21st century to pass an ordinance ending the sale of most tobacco products, including cigarettes, and it is unlikely to be the last. Knowledge of previous efforts to ban tobacco sales in the US, both successful and unsuccessful, may help inform tobacco control advocates' approach to future efforts. METHODS: We retrieved and analyzed archival tobacco industry documents. We confirmed and supplemented information from the documents with news media coverage and publicly available state and local government materials, such as meeting minutes and staff reports, related to proposed bans. RESULTS: We found 22 proposals to end the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products from 1969-2020 in the US. Proposals came from five states, twelve cities or towns, and one county. Most came from elected officials or boards of health, and were justified on public health grounds. In opposing tobacco sales bans, the tobacco industry employed no tactics or arguments that it did not also employ in campaigns against other tobacco control measures. Public health groups typically opposed sales ban proposals on the grounds that they were not evidence-based. This changed with Beverly Hills' 2019 proposal, with public health organizations supporting this and other California city proposals because of their likely positive health impacts. This support did not always translate into passage of local ordinances, as some city council members expressed reservations about the impact on small businesses. CONCLUSION: Tobacco control advocates are likely to encounter familiar tobacco industry tactics and arguments against tobacco sales ban proposals, and can rely on past experience and the results of a growing body of retail-related research to counter them. Considering how to overcome concerns about harming retailers will likely be vital if other jurisdictions are to succeed in ending tobacco sales.

Meanings & motives. Experts debating tobacco addiction.

Over the last 50 years, tobacco has been excluded from and then included in the category of addictive substances. We investigated influences on these opposing definitions and their application in expert witness testimony in litigation in the 1990s and 2000s. A scientist with ties to the tobacco industry influenced the selection of a definition of addiction that led to the classification of tobacco as a "habituation" in the 1964 Surgeon General's Advisory Committee report. Tobacco was later defined as addictive in the 1988 surgeon general's report. Expert witnesses for tobacco companies used the 1964 report's definition until Philip Morris Tobacco Company publicly changed its position in 1997 to agree that nicotine was addictive. Expert witnesses for plaintiffs suing the tobacco industry used the 1988 report's definition, arguing that new definitions were superior because of scientific advance. Both sides viewed addiction as an objective entity that could be defined more or less accurately.

"Not one single case of throat irritation": misuse of the image of the otolaryngologist in cigarette advertising.

Early in the last century, when questions about the health effects of smoking became a topic of widespread discussion, tobacco companies undertook a multi-faceted campaign to allay the public's fears. As terms like "smoker's cough" and "coffin nails" (referring to cigarettes) began to appear in the popular vernacular, tobacco marketers recognized the need to counter this threat to their livelihood. One strategy was to use endorsements by healthy and vigorous-appearing singers, radio stars, and actors. Another was to raise fears over weight gain: "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." Among the more reprehensible tactics was the utilization of the image of the noble and caring physician to sell cigarettes: doctors were depicted both as satisfied and enthusiastic partakers of the smoking habit (e.g., "More doctors smoke Camels"). Images of medical men (and a few token women) appeared under warm reassurances of the safety of smoking. Frequently, images appeared of a head-mirrored "throat doctor," smiling benignly, while indicating that the company's product would do no harm. Indeed, many cigarette ads, especially for menthol brands, suggested a therapeutic soothing benefit from smoking. Liberal use was also made of pseudo-scientific medical reports and surveys. Our intention is to tell, principally through advertising images-the story of how, between the late 1920s and the early 1950s, tobacco companies used deceptive and often patently false claims in an effort to reassure the public of the safety of their products.

Signed, sealed and delivered: "big tobacco" in Hollywood, 1927-1951.

OBJECTIVE: Smoking in movies is associated with adolescent and young adult smoking initiation. Public health efforts to eliminate smoking from films accessible to youth have been countered by defenders of the status quo, who associate tobacco imagery in "classic" movies with artistry and nostalgia. The present work explores the mutually beneficial commercial collaborations between the tobacco companies and major motion picture studios from the late 1920s through the 1940s. METHODS: Cigarette endorsement contracts with Hollywood stars and movie studios were obtained from internal tobacco industry documents at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Legacy Tobacco Documents Library and the Jackler advertising collection at Stanford. RESULTS: Cigarette advertising campaigns that included Hollywood endorsements appeared from 1927 to 1951, with major activity in 1931-2 and 1937-8 for American Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike, and in the late 1940s for Liggett & Myers' Chesterfield. Endorsement contracts and communication between American Tobacco and movie stars and studios explicitly reveal the cross-promotional value of the campaigns. American Tobacco paid movie stars who endorsed Lucky Strike cigarettes US$218,750 in 1937-8 (equivalent to US$3.2 million in 2008) for their testimonials. CONCLUSIONS: Hollywood endorsements in cigarette advertising afforded motion picture studios nationwide publicity supported by the tobacco industry's multimillion US dollar advertising budgets. Cross-promotion was the incentive that led to a synergistic relationship between the US tobacco and motion picture industries, whose artefacts, including "classic" films with smoking and glamorous publicity images with cigarettes, continue to perpetuate public tolerance of onscreen smoking. Market-based disincentives within the film industry may be a solution to decouple the historical association between Hollywood films and cigarettes.

[History of Brazil's tobacco control policy from 1986 to 2016]. / Trajetória da política de controle do tabaco no Brasil de 1986 a 2016.

This study analyzes Brazil's tobacco control policy from 1986 to 2016, seeking to describe the policy's history and discuss its achievements, limits, and challenges. The study adopted a political economics approach and contributions from public policy analysis. Data were based on a search of the literature, documents, and secondary sources and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in the policy. Factors related to the domestic and international contexts, the political process, and the policy's content influenced the institutional characteristics of tobacco control in the country. The study emphasizes the consolidation of Brazil's social rejection of smoking, government structuring of the policy, action by civil society, and Brazil's prestige in the international scenario. Inter-sector tobacco control measures like price and tax increases on cigarettes, the promotion of smoke-free environments, and the enforcement of health warnings contributed to the important reduction in prevalence of smoking. Implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Brazil, beginning in 2006, contributed to the expansion and consolidation of the national policy. However, tobacco-related economic interests limited the implementation of some strategic measures. The challenges feature the medium- and long-term sustainability of tobacco control and the solution to barriers involving crop diversification on current tobacco-growing areas, the fight against the illegal cigarette trade, and interference in the policy by the tobacco industry.

O estudo analisa a política brasileira de controle do tabaco entre 1986 e 2016, buscando caracterizar a trajetória da política e discutir os seus avanços, limites e desafios. Adotaram-se a perspectiva da economia política e contribuições do referencial de análise de políticas públicas. Realizou-se análise bibliográfica, documental, de dados secundários e de entrevistas semiestruturadas com atores envolvidos na política. Fatores relacionados ao contexto nacional e internacional, ao processo político e ao conteúdo da política influenciaram a institucionalidade do controle do tabaco no país. Ressaltam-se a consolidação da rejeição social ao tabagismo, a estruturação governamental da política, a atuação da sociedade civil e o prestígio do Brasil no cenário internacional. Medidas intersetoriais de controle do tabaco, como o aumento de preços e impostos de cigarros, a promoção de ambientes livres do fumo e a adoção de advertências sobre os malefícios do tabagismo contribuíram para a expressiva redução da prevalência de fumantes no período. A implementação da Convenção-Quadro para Controle do Tabaco da Organização Mundial da Saúde no Brasil, a partir de 2006, contribuiu para a expansão e consolidação da política nacional. No entanto, interesses econômicos relacionados ao tabaco limitaram a implementação de algumas ações estratégicas. Entre os desafios, destacam-se a sustentabilidade do controle do tabaco a médio e longo prazos e a superação das barreiras relacionadas à diversificação em áreas plantadas de fumo, ao combate ao comércio ilícito de cigarros e à interferência da indústria do fumo na política.

El estudio analiza la política brasileña de control al tabaco entre 1986 y 2016, procurando determinar la trayectoria de la política en este sentido, además de discutir sus avances, límites y desafíos. Se adoptaron la perspectiva de la economía política y contribuciones dentro del marco referencial del análisis a las políticas públicas. Se realizó un análisis bibliográfico, documental, de datos secundarios y de entrevistas semiestructuradas con actores involucrados en la política. Los factores relacionados con el contexto nacional e internacional, proceso político y contenido de la política influenciaron la institucionalidad del control al tabaco en el país. Se resaltan la consolidación del rechazo social al tabaquismo, la estructuración gubernamental de la política, la actuación de la sociedad civil y el prestigio de Brasil en el escenario internacional. Las medidas intersectoriales de control al tabaco, como el aumento de precios e impuestos de cigarrillos, la promoción de ambientes libres de tabaco y la adopción de advertencias sobre los perjuicios del tabaquismo contribuyeron a una expresiva reducción de la prevalencia de fumadores durante el período. La implementación de la Convención-Marco para el Control del Tabaco de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, en Brasil, a partir de 2006, contribuyó a la expansión y consolidación de la política nacional. No obstante, los intereses económicos, relacionados con el tabaco, limitaron la implementación de algunas acciones estratégicas. Entre los desafíos, se destacan la sostenibilidad del control al tabaco a medio y largo plazo y la superación de las barreras relacionadas con la diversificación en áreas plantadas con tabaco, el combate al comercio ilícito de cigarrillos y la interferencia de la industria del tabaco en la política.