Tobacco

Tobacco on Trial

by Sheldon Rampton — September 27, 2004 - 11:42pm

The news media have devoted scant coverage to the $280 billion federal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against tobacco companies, but anti-tobacco activists are filling the gap with a weblog that offers blow-by-blow analysis of the trial and courtroom testimony.

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http://www.tobacco-on-trial.com

Tobacco Industry Smoke and Mirrors On Trial

by Laura Miller — September 21, 2004 - 10:00pm

"The most important type of story is that which casts doubt on the cause and effect theory of smoking and cancer," read one internal Council for Tobacco Research memo presented by the U.S. Justice Department on the first day of the largest civil racketeering trial brought by the government.

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Washington Post, September 22, 2004

Foyled Again, by Big Tobacco

by Diane Farsetta — September 12, 2004 - 10:00pm

In 1990, British lawyer Andrew Foyle wrote a memorandum to British American Tobacco regarding the company's "document retention policy." U.S. government lawyers contend the Foyle memo provides information on tobacco companies' actions "to destroy, suppress or otherwise shield from discovery ... internal research documents concerning smoking and health." The U.S.

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Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2004

Secondhand Smoke Screen

by Laura Miller — August 22, 2004 - 10:00pm

A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that Philip Morris attempted to influence media coverage of secondhand smoke. Citing internal industry documents, the study's author, Dr.

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PR Week (sub req'd), August 23, 2004

Sweet Smelling Ash

by Diane Farsetta — June 2, 2004 - 10:00pm

British American Tobacco is carrying out animal tests on chocolate, wine, sherry, cocoa, corn syrup, cherry juice, maple syrup and vanilla-flavored tobacco. Former British health secretary Frank Dobson remarked, "We all know that hardly anyone takes up smoking when they are grown up. That is why the tobacco industry wants to target children [with flavored tobacco]." Flavored cigarettes, which were first sold by R.J.

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Independent (UK), June 3, 2004

Blame It On Your Genes

by Sheldon Rampton — May 29, 2004 - 10:00pm

Secret documents reveal that British-American Tobacco has spent millions of pounds funding university research to back the controversial theory of "genetic predisposition," which argues that some people are more susceptible to lung cancer than others because they have "bad genes." The environmental group Gene Watch has obtained internal memos from BAT showing that research into "bad genes" was by far BAT's largest area of university funding in the early 1990s.

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The Observer (UK), May 30, 2004

Free Cigs For Celebs

by Laura Miller — August 6, 2003 - 10:00pm

"A tobacco company is offering a free lifetime supply of cigarettes to celebrity smokers as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to raise the public profile of its recently launched brand," the Associated Press reports. "In a tersely worded pitch, Freedom Tobacco International Inc. said it was seeking to 'seed' its cigarettes with adult celebrities. The appeal was made Tuesday to publicists through a Web-based network subscribed to by hundreds of public relations agencies. ...

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Sarasota Herald Tribune, August 7, 2003

Edelman Drops British American Tobacco Account

by Laura Miller — July 24, 2003 - 10:00pm

"Edelman PR Worldwide, which represents the National Dialogue on Cancer, has dropped British American Tobacco as a client in Malaysia, according to The Cancer Letter of July 25," O'Dwyer's PR reports. "Richard and Daniel Edelman had signed a pledge that the firm would not work for tobacco companies when it won the non-profit group's account last October. Edelman's Kuala Lumpur office, however, helped BAT promote 'social reporting,' issuing press releases about scholarships for children of tobacco farmers.

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O'Dwyer's PR, July 25, 2003

Socially Responsible Killers

by Sheldon Rampton — May 15, 2003 - 10:00pm

Our First Quarter 2003 issue of PR Watch detailed the British American Tobacco company's effort to reposition itself as "socially responsible." Now the Center for Public Integrity has produced a detailed report, citing internal industry documents, showing how the tobacco industry is using "social responsibility" to "prevent the enactment of a tough worldwide treaty" regulating tobacco marketing.

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Public I, May 16, 2003

Big Tobacco Sues CA for "Vilification" in Anti-Smoking Ads

by John Stauber — April 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Two of the nation's largest cigarette manufacturers have sued the state of California to stop state-sponsored ads that exceed the authority granted to the state by voters and are intended to vilify the tobacco industry. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Lorillard Tobacco Company filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, seeking an injunction halting some of California's Prop 99 advertising. ... As noted in the proposition itself, Prop 99 tax proceeds are to be used primarily for tobacco-related health education programs and medical care for indigent citizens.

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Associate Press, April 2, 2003
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