Tobacco Documents Online

PUBLIC AFFAIRS STRATEGIEG - 4 (#20) LITIGATION P.R. The industry obviously has its hands full with litigation issues and, until now, each of the companies has dealt with the P.R. aspects of the lawsuits individually, and mostly from a defensive posture. IIowever, we're now going on the offense. B&W, RJR and PM are launching a joint effort in March to pro actively communicate with the news media on the A.G. and class action lawsuits and to address the issue of plaintiff's bar ethics. Elements of the effort include: (#21) o Creating a central source of litigation information (#22) o Implementing a pro-active media relations plan (#23) o Retaining a credentialed spokesperson (#24) o Conducting test markets this month and launching the effort with the beginning of the Ca~tano trial in April Bill Leach, the former Tennessee A.G., has been retained to conduct interviews with the media to discuss: o the plaintiff's lawyers as the "real" potential beneficiaries of the lawsuits, given contingency fee arrangements o reliance on statistics, rather than causal relationships, to establish damages o the elimination of defenses, which could make virtually any industry a target o plaintiff's lawyers use of the media -- through leaks of documents and depositions -- to try the industry in the court of public opinion This pro-active approach will be tested in Florence, S.C. and Bolling Green, Ky., the week of March 18 with Mr. Leach conducting newspaper and radio interviews. ~utes" Background review. vs. Mike Wallace. Why B&W decided to participate. The result. Gordon Smith 5~1300013

Public Affairs Strategies 3 (#16) ~EN~IRONM~ Back to the U.S. It's fair to ask: "HOW political is the current focus on the tobacco industry?" o o o unprecedented level of JustiGe Department~grand jury investigations FDA attempting to take control of the industry youth smoking/access issue made a "plank" in the Clinton re-election platform (#17) WALL STREET JOURNALU~ Even the Wall Street Journal raised the issue, although indirectly, that perhaps a "witch-hunt" ~u~y be driving the intensity of the government's efforts. In this February 15 quote, either a reporter asked the question about a witch-hunt or a government spokesperson volunteered a denial. I can tell you that the Wall Street Journal isn't the only media asking the question. (#1a) ID~LD~_~IT,ATIVES The industry & B&W are countering the FDA'S efforts and addressing the youth access issue. o o (~]g)o o __ opposition letters submitted to FDA by employees/other stakeholders TI/company representatives currently visiting with newspaper editorial boards to present the industry's position B&W worked with retailer trade groups (convenience stores, drug stores, supermarkets] to develop a voluntary education and awareness program to prevent sales to minors B&W working with a local high school to develop a pilot project aimed at generating involvement by school administrators and parents ,~;]1,']()(/(~14

Public Affairs Strategies - 2 (#8 } SCIENCE & F.NVIRONMENTAL POLICY PROJECT From a strategic standpoint, we believed the most effective way to publicize the report would be through a credib]e~ highly respected "third party". So we brought the report to t~e attention of the 'science & Environmental Policy Project", SEEP, as it is known, is a Fairfax, Va., t~ink-tank that studies and analyzes how science is used Jn federal policy-making and enoourages the use of sound science. After reading the CRS report, SEEP was equally concerned the EPA's conclusions and agreed more visibility was in or@er. {#9) SEEP NEWS RELEASE With B&W's assistance, SEEP l~unched a media relations campaign in January calling attention to the "Top Five Environmental Myths of 1995." While such issues as "global warming" and radon were on the list, the focus was on ETS. (#10) W~HINGTO TIMES "OP ED" In addition to ~ews releases, SEEP wrote ')Op ed~ piecest and conducted interviews on radio and television. SEEP is continuing the "enviromnmental myths" campaign, extending discussion of the subject to speeches by Dr. Fred singer, SEPE's executive director. It'~ one strategy to help balance the debate. (#17) ETS - BRINGING SCIENCE TO THE DESAT~ ETS is a key issue being tackled by B.A.T on a worldwide basis. Armed with sound information and science, B.A.T wants to get ahead of the issue in other countries around the world. (#s 12-15) ETS ISSUE IE CHATS A survey conducted by B.A.T last year shows that in virtually every region worldwide, ETS is an "e~erqing" or "existing" issue. The current strategy is to utilize a B.A.T "ETS Team" to visit Country and Public Affairs Managers for background briefings on ETS, the sciences, and major public discussion points. This approach will enable local company officials to more comfortably communicate on the issues with legislators, the news media and opinion leaders. One session already has been conducted in Brazil. • 5~150()0 iS

PUBLIC AFFAII~S STRATEGIES fAmelia Island Presentationl OVERVIEW Provide a perspective of the key issues impacting B&W and the industry and of the strategies being emD]oyed to positively influence pub]ic debate. (#2] KEY ISSUES While there are numerous issues we could discuss, I'll be focusing on those which are most crltleal and timely, including: o Environmental TobRcco Smoke o Youth Access o Litigation P.R. I'll also brief]y discuss the "60 Minutes" program and the thinking that went into our decision to participate. (@3 & #4) ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE Tony provided considerable background on the EPA's 1992 report, but it's worth reviewing the key findings and their impact: o Here we have a situation where the EPA essentially "cooked the books" in order to advance a political position. o The impact has been sweeping from local bans and restrictions in public areas, bars and restaurants to consideration by federal OSHA of mandating smoking bans in all workp]aces. (#5) CONGRESSION2~L RESF~A/{CH SERVICE REPORT Despite a lawsuit by the industry and cries of "foul" by independent reviewers of the EPA-report, the EPA's conclusions were accepted as gospel. That is, untl] the Congressional Research Service -- an independent arm of the U.S. L]bary of Congress -- issued its report in November 1995 undercutting the EPA's position. (#6 & #7) For B&W, the key was to achieve widespread visibility of the critical CRS report. 5,31.3000 IG