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IN THE,UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE S4'UTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 4 5 6 7 8 PHILIP MORRISx INCCRPORATED3 Plaintiff; -vs- No. 74 CIV. 2395 R. J, REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY) and WM. ESTY, ?.NC, p ) . ) Defendants. ) The deposition of JOHN HOWARD BENSON, . $ 15 .~ 16 17 1s 19 20 21 22 .0 23 24 calledy by the defendants for examination, pursuant to notice and pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure for the United States District Courts pertaining to the taninQ of depo$itions for the purpose of dis- covery, taken before Diane E, Norris, a notary public within and for the County of Cook and State of Illinois, at Prudential Plaza, Suite 1500, Chicago, Illinois, on the 32th day of November, A,D,, 1974S corsuaenc ing at the hour of 1: 30 o' clack p. a.

0 16 17 18 19 16 @ Did you:..participate in the preparation of the copy? Q Did you participate in the preparation of the art work? ' ' A No, I did not. Q:_ Did you approve of the final ad as shown in Morgan Exhibits 3A, 3B and 3C? A I was one of -- I approved of it in the role of an account supervisor. Q What does that mean? A That means many people participate in the approval of the advertising. Q And you were one of. them? A Correct. . Q Q At that times was Mr. Krom the art director Correct. Where is he now? A He's in Calif ornia, 20 Q .0 21 22 23 A Q Is he assigned there permanently? No. He is on a trip. At that-time, was Marlboro Lights looked ! on as the f orerunner of a new trend in cigarettes; not a new brand, not a new name, but a natural

4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 L participated in the meetings that led.to the marketing of Marlboro Lights. Q. When did these meetings first occur? A Mid-19?1. I am guessing. - Q Mid-summer? A Something like that, - Q There are some agency service reports that have been identified here, if that's of any assist- ance, I do not have with me the first one, which is in September, but when we come back again, we will have the September one. I think they are chronological. (Witness examining documents.) 20 21 22 - 23 - 24 THE YIITNESS: Well, the first one here indicates December 1 of '71. By Mr. Boals Q At that point in time, I take it that Marlboro Lights was being sold in New England and not- elsewhere? A Correct, Q.- Do you_recall the meetings, what took place at the meetings in mid-1971? A Specifically, what?

. % I 1 2 3 5 6 7 0 ~ v 10 d ¢ 11 U 0 cc 12 a Z a x 3 9 0 0 14 ;g z a 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 9 a cowboy in the same way in the United States? A The same way, no, not to my knowledge. Q is the cowboy-theme closely identified with the Marlboro cigarette? A Yes. Q Do you think that that's a positive identi:- fication in terms of consumer appeal? A Yes, Q Very much so, is it not? A Correct, There was an exception that didn't occur to me, and that is some specialized advertising use in some black media, Q And what was that exception? A We ran a couple of case history ads on black people from black history, $ What period of time did this occur?. I am unsure of the dates. It was after 3.963. Q Within the last decade? A Yes, Q What was your role with respect.to LA 0 N v, Marlboro Lights? 1P O A 4le 1l . I an account supervisor on Marlboro. ~ w

20 g any .advertising of Marlboro Lights? .A ' I would say no. Q Are you familiar with Hoover Kern, Robert Peak? A I'm familiar with Hoover Kern.' I know of Robert peak, Q And what was their role in the development of Marlboro Lights advertising, if any? A I can't answer that question specifically. Hoover Kern is an art studio which is used by Marlboro. However, we do use other art studios, possibly. I'm not familiar with that. It's.pos$ible that they did the.art assembly for Marlboro Lights,. $ 15 .~ $ What does the term "art assembly" connote I 16 with respect to advertising? 17 A Art assembly is the finished piece that is 18 photographed by.a photo engraver to make a metal- 19 plate for printing. 20 Q The art studio, then, has nothing to do 21 with the selection of the elements of the advertising? 22 A Correct. 23 ~ Q Hoover Kern is located in this building? 0 N 24 Correct. ~ 0 w N ~

21 ~.._...._._...~.,._...,_... I 4 5 6 Q Q Are they_owned by Leo Burnett? N It ts an Andependent entitjr? Right, Do you know Collins., Miller &-Hutchins? I know,of them.- And are they engravers? A They are photo engravers. Q What was the word you used before ."engraver"? A Photo. Q How about Intaglio Service Corporation? A They are an engraver, also, for rotogravure. Q And how about Superior Rogers Graphics? A. Photo engraver. Q Did they make any decision w ith respect to any of the Marlboro Lights advertising? A - No. Q In 1971, who at Philip Morris did you work with with respect to the development of Marlboro Lights advertising? A Jack Landry, Jim Morgan, And I'm hazy on Fitzmaurice. At one time, Bob worked for me, and then he's with Philin Morris, and I have forgotten

18 A in one ad, a minor attempt$ I would say. Which ad is that?. 4 5 6 7 8 A (Indicating)-.; Q That's 3C, Morgan Exhibit 3C. And what'in there ties in with the A Beg pardon? Q What aspect of that ad ties in with it? A The illustration of a cowboy. Q How about the cowboy and the horse art work which appears in both 3B and 3C? A I don't look upon that as an effort to tie in, really, to the cowboy in the other two examples. Q Is there any reason for the cowboy and-a z $ 15 a 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 horse that appears on 3A, 3B and 3C? A In my opinion, it is used more as an interesting graphic device in the headline, is all. Q Just happened to have a cowboy on a horse, right, under the "M" of "Me.rlboro "? A It does, yes. Q Is Norman Muse the man who was responsible for the use of the cowboy lighting a cigarette in 3C and the cowboy on'the horse in 3A, B* and C?' , v, A Norman Muse -- I will back up -- it's N 0% F under Norman Muse's direction that this advertising o w . = N N

0 12 Were you.:in favor of the project? . Yes, Q Was there a reason,why you favored the proJect? : ~ ~ A To expand the Marlboro franchise. Q Who did you expect to expand it to? -- - A To non-smokers of Marlboro Red. Q Any non-smoker of Marlboro Red? A Hopefully, yes. t 10 V ~ Q Were there any discussions at that time as E 11 ~ 12 to the target group to whom Philip Morris or Leo 0 Burnett wanted to appeal with this new cigarette? x a z 13 9 A Well,:basically,, as I said earlier, we 0 0 14 :g z $ 15 wanted to expand the franchise of the Marlboro brand ., name, and there were people who did not smoke Marlbor 16 17 Red, and we, hopefully, were going to attract those 18 non-smokers of Marlboro Red with another brand of 19 Marlboro,.. 20 Q Was one of the aims to protect the Marlboro 21 franchise from erosion to high filtration or low tar 22 and nicotine cigarettes? ' 23 understand your question correctly, A.. If I 4 to protect the erosion, the answer is no. 0 ti o, ' Q Was there at that time any erosion from the o c., v 01

rather, of Marlboro Red. 10 r z a 2 5 6 7 8 9 11 19 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Q Isnit there a particular non-smoker that ' this advertising is directed at? A I don't think there is a particular non- smoker, Q Particular group-of non-smokers? I-mean, is there a particular•group of smokers? A I don't believe there is a particular group on this. iiopefully, *we were aiming at all those people, who did not smoke Marlboro Reds,. Q I note in the first line, thep top line of Exhibit 12A, for example, in the copy, prominent type~ "If you smoke a low tar and nicotine cigaretteP try this new one from Marlboro.", Isn't that directed to the low tar and nico tine cigarette smoker? A I have always looked on low tar being a very relative thing. For example, if I were a Camel smoker, I would consider a Marlboro, say, or an L & M as a lower tar cigarette. Q- Was there a reason for the selection of the copy "If you smoke a low tar and nicotine cigarette, try this new one from tdarlboro"?

. .. 0 M 3 7 16 17 18 19 0 21 22 23 24 27 nicotine . .cigarette",? A It could be, yes. Q We have identified this morning in the deposition of ldr, Adams Exhibits 4A and 4B, which are point of sale pieces, and I ask you °if you recognize those. A Yes, Q Were they prepared in 1971 or early t72? A I think so. Q And what was your role in the preparation of those ads? A I did not participate in the specif ic preparation of those. I probably attended meetings where they were presented. - Q And who participated in the presentation of these ads? A Again, this would be under Norman Muse's and Ken Krom's direction. , Q Were Marlboro Lights at that time lighter in taste_ and lower in tar? A Compared to what? Q. The advertisement says "Marlboro Lights$' lighter in taste, low in tar." A Compared to? . ~