Philip Morris strategic rationale for befriending and contributing financially to ethnic and minority groups
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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation. |
This Philip Morris 1993 Corporate Affairs Plan describes the company's strategic rationale for befriending and contributing financially to ethnic and minority groups. It makes clear that such affiliations are a strategy to undermine the "antis" (public health authorities):
- "Develop offsetting relationships among groups that are often used by the "antis" suggesting they are victims because they use the company's products. The relationships developed are designed to insure that our case is understood, thus undermining the opposition's ability to organize against the company's interests with leading community organizations..."
(The above description is found under the "Public Affairs" section of the report, which describes the function of PM's Public Affairs group as focusing on contributions.)
The document also shows that PM realizes that strong smoking restrictions throughout the country are inevitable:
- "At the end of the planning period it is likely that smokers will elect to smoke only in designated smoking areas when in public or at homes or the homes of friends who smoke. It is also likely that only a fraction of workplaces will allow smoking at all inside buildings. These assumptions are based on an analysis of well established trends."
The document also makes clear that PM believes the worst possible tax is one that ties cigarette sales to health care funding:
- "Indeed, no tax threat is as great as being included in some way in a health care funding program."
Title Corporate Affairs Five-Year Plan 930000 - 970000 Org. Author Philip Morris Date 19930300/E Type Report, chart, graph, tables Bates 2023206094/6126 Collection Philip Morris Pages 33 URL: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/jbr98e0
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