Industry-Provided Depositions
Philip Morris Incorporated V. Rj Reynolds Tobacco Company and William Esty Company, Inc. Deposition of H. Copeland Robinson, Jr.
Fields
- Site
- Rjri
- Law
- Alias
- CN 742895CIVCES
- Type
- DEPOSITION
- Date Loaded
- 27 Feb 1998
- Box
- Rjr4108
- Request
- 19970311
- Letter
- Minnesota
- Request
- Letter
- Author
- Robinson, C.H. Jr
- Unk
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DI;,iP.ICT COLttT
DI: TRICT CF YORK
Civ. Action 1,Io.74
Civ. 2695 - CES
FaILIP I10:w IS IL7CGFtrGRF.T: D, )
Plaintiff, )
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v. )
)
R. J. REDVIOLflS TOT ACCO )
.CO,v1PF-1IY G: d «TILLIAM, ESTY )
COz.YpoTY, rx. , DEfendant ,. )
DEPOSITION OF
II. COPELAND ROBINSON, JR.
APPEARAF. CE S
Plaintift: 7,ntlro:;y L. Fletcher and Timothy C. Quinn, Jr. ,
Attorneya - Ce;z-hoy, 1'.c%ritt, O'Brien & 13oarc'rman,
20 Exc2-.ai:ge Place, Vew York, New York 10005
Defen::an:s: R. brudl:e Doal, Attorney - Cooper, Dunham,
Clar'.:, Griffin & moran, 30 Rockefeller P1M4a,
p;cw York, 2:^w York
L. Alfrod wilson, Atto_nay, R. J. Reynol4s
Industries, Inc., winsto::-Salem, North
Carolina 27102
~ * * 4 ifr * t * *
Bo;:sn Ross and Jack Koach, Attarneys,.
L=V c_;:at .& Ai'Vers, Inc., Du_ham, North Carolina
The deposition of H. Copeland Robinson, Jr., was
taken on December 16, 1974, at the Holiaay Inn, Durham,
P}orth Carolina, bevinninq at 2 s 00 P. M. , in the presence of
25 1 counsel he--einbcfore stated.

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2 L% aTR.
3 B3ir_g first duly sworn, was examincd
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4 and tc: ,tificd a:; follo-as: 1
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6 T.'?:1s-:-iTl?'.A1^.IGh rsY 12. fiOALs
? Q. Mr. RoIbinson, will you give us your full name and
8 home addresu? ~
9 A. 2122 Ncrth Lakeshore
Jr.
Copeland Robinson
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10 Drive. ~
11 Q. By «hoca are you er..ployed? ~
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13 A.
Q. L;ggett & Myez s, Inccrporated.
For how lcng have you been c.r:.ntoyed by Liggett i
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15 A. Sy...~co February first, 1951.
16 Q. And what are your present responsibilities for
17 Liggett & 2'.yers?
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18 A. Pxcscntly I am Dircctor of mar}.cting Services. I
19 have prir;iary recponsibs ities for the media and
20 ptiblic rclations of the tobacco division. ;
21 Q. For how long havc you had that responsibility?
22 A. T::at particular rc:::ponsibil.ity, three or four years .
23 Q. Could you outlir.e your enplo}rocnt history with .
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Lic;;:: t-,t &k:y`rs, giving us the times and dates i
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25 when you have had various positions and a
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A. As ;x:st I can in chronological dating, I
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joined, as I caid, in '51. b1y first title was
Iissistant to the Vice President of Advertising
wh; ch is about an advertising department of two
people. Within two or three yaars after that,
about two I su3p3ct, my title changed to Auvertiaing
manager for Liggett & Yyers. I stayed with that
title until approxirnatcly 1965 when I was Director
of Brand ?dana3ement. That would be 165 to 171, 172
wcan I took this title.
And pr for to 1951 by whom were you employed?
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A. N3t:ell-Errm_*t, khichh was the predecessor of
Cunningham & Walsh which is the advertining agency
for all of our cigarette brands.
Q. hixen you say ' all of our' you mean Liggett & Myers
advertising?
A. 1t that all of our cigarette brands, that's
c.orra:. t.
Q. Did you work on that.account at that time?
A. Yes, only.
Q. That is, you worked solely for Liggett & r:lers?
Solely fcr L:+.; g:-tt & 23yers.
25 1 Q. I hava aqro-ip of Chc-,stcrfield ads, the first three

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b~-ia7 a3, dat^! P:c:vc--b;cr 192.7, 1932, and 1940, prior
to t: eWit:~ess' cr:p} cy tvi t'~ t?~e Lig7(:tt & r:yers
Cc:,:rnny, ar.d, as I u,~~e_ s ta.~d it, you don't
rc,--cg^i" these eFsciflc ads?
A. 2'0, s ir, I do riot.
MR. BOAL: tir'all, I wonder if you have any
objec':iGn to the autherticity of those ads?
2.R. FLETCsTER: r:'o. I will stiaulate that
thry were chesterfield ads as of the time you stated.
N,R, BOAL: O',cay.
MR. FLETCFX.R: F::cuse me, may I sea thera for
just a cecond?
tdt, BOAL: Sure.,.. I ask the reporter to
r::azk tt.cse as Defendant Liggett Exhibits lA, B, and
C,
(!'.RRY.ED FOR ITiEIeTIFICATION)
(Mr. Loal) In Defendant's L & M Exhibits lA, 1B,
ar.d 1C, the word 'lir.ht' is upEd in the body copy
cf tl~ose e:{js :;7,its, ' light' in a vc-rbal. scn.se I think.
Does it .z f: liSht Up your Chcsterfield?
A. Light up your first Cnestrrf.ield.
~. HavL you cf nr. that kind of use of ' licht'?
A. Yes.
Q. In zdve=ta.Fi: g over the ycars?

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A. G~,;:tzin1_ .
Q. ry ?
A.
A.
I w:.clil aay rrc,~.^,,a:atly.
is it a coi~xnaa usc: of ' 1i.ht' in this business?
S-r_kh, 13.,~ht a ci.carctte, cc.rta.tnly.
Q. I have here a page from the r.lagazine GIRL TALK,
the sucn:::r of 1970, and ask if you recognize that
GIRL TALK ad?
. Yes. It's like a nu.-,,ber of ao.s, looking the sans.
This oze hal?pvned to be pi:.blis'led in GIRL TALK.
ir:::at v'.s the occasion fnr that; was that purt of a
particular c:.~.~aig*~?
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F. The svT-,aer of 170, this is about the introduction
of. eul-- vnfcrtunate picture packs for Chesterfield
ar:.d we r.r.n very little ac?vertising on C'r.estezfield
during that period. That's about it.
Q. Whcn you say 'uI'lfoZ'tliE3ate', this kas--
A. xkut's a co-r.par.y picture packs didn't help
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b::.rn-.r.3 vezy muc_.
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Q. And is ' 1ic.:-.ter' used in' t.he copy?
A. Yes, 3ir.,
Q. In that ad?
A. (14I':-'::: 0133 NCDS :-MAJ AFFZZ~:ATI'JELY)
(;.. Ar3 ic- iaVin :c3 to ba conveyed by the use of
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the {.:::rm _~F:r' i.r; "i :.0t r,axti.cular ad?
iIR. FL1 Tc:L;:R: Objection to the for:a of the
c,+t.e.;;,io:2. I dcn 't ti:izix you have establisY.ed this
quali.ticAtions to answer to the intent of
th-3 ad, that is, at this point. It may be possible
to do so.
N:Ft. EOAL: All right.
Q. (I':. EGal) Did you have. z:ny role in developing the
ccpy.for that?
A. No.
Q, Did you r:avo aiiy 4pFroval= did you have any responsi-
bility of any hind for that ad?
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A. 1Fa, e::cEpt its placein:©nt.
Q. Ex::cpt its placer.:cnt. Do you understand the copy
A.
A.
in that ad?
Certainly.
.is it obvious to 1 ou as to what the intent of the
uzY of t1: o word 'ligt:t' is in thaL ad?
G:wicus in i:3y' ce::'_e~:" , v~.s.
j;e11, ti,'rsot is it?
rm. rLrTCi:LR: t;cll, I objact again to the
fo:.'m of the question. I don't think that any of
the issuc:s in this csse is whr,t is obvious or not
to Q;e wit.r.o-ss. -4fie queotion isc what does it mean
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to C:= co:at:.-:~:g p:iLli c,
2' :. :;OP,;r: lWcll, I thin:: t: at this witn^s,s--
FL:.::.:'.~.'R: I will poiat out, also, that
he cur.'t :;L~tify La to tY e izitent of the ad.
t;R, n0,r3L: As to t:.e i,-itent of the ad, okay.
Q. (Px, iso:.3.) Is thcre. z,.r.y pu»pose in the advertising
COE) y f::,: :: ~:?
The purpo;,e of this Plrtivilar advcytisin; is prE-
sL::,ably to introduce the pic!:+.irQ pack and to r.;r.ke
it clear that t.t-.,.re are coi.Fcr.s on those packages.
01 Does the c: 14y 11ave a.ly purF:~we? .
A. ac}.er than the noa-mal cig :r;:tte langu:::go, of Which
t'l_irn isr.'t very much, no.
b~ And is is`e.:e any hwpose to the normal cigarette
lt:nguac~P u::ed?
I 4oa't un.darstand the cuestion. The purpose of the
1::.2s;u,:,,y_ is to ES1> C1J~:~~tCB.
Q. t::.:. tKyare a pL:.;ez-5^ for thz~.; .~:irticul«r--v:::s there
a rcazan fcr c::::osi^a t+':e Far-ticulur copy that was
LzCd?
A. Iyou are rcserrir.g to 11 ightcr' ,'sraoothc+'
pzrticulGrty, aren't you, and I can't cay that there
we.s =iy in that.
Q. Decs t12»t hw: :.ziy racaning to you?
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R: uait a ninute. I cbject to
t'::.t is Y,~:yinniz:g is net respcasic:_,
I i,;.;.:. t;.}:c a ycs cr r.o an:,ker to that and then
o?;jcct to ti:a follcrpup u~:estion.
Q, (tn,r, toal) If it has an y neaning to you, answer
y~s or no?
A. Yes.
Q, O:4y, wil:at is that me«r_ing?
Fz1?=::c:E::a:: Gbjccl%-.ion for the reasons
stated l;cic+e:
Mt;, uOAL: o:.ay, you Ciln answer the question.
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:5r.. FL::TCr::U;: ?=:at is up to his counsel.
~. +~ Q~S. . C;-si~T'.
t...l. a. J
A. :.t's o}:ay wii:h ns, because as far as I'm concerned
this ? G:r.guage is really cigarette pLffiery. It
~-r -111Y d~acribcs t::.: fact t::4t tha cigarette is a
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l..L,4-. ::: tcista:.an so:aa oi:her cigarette.
:::M c.Cr6s 'lig: lLer', 'smovtr:er' have
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~ ^ ,i~ 'scaoo;::cr' kou d tc
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cc_:~:~cc t':aL it is lczs LT!.°sh than its co:r:petitior..
is its cL:,: c)c:i.itiCA?
;. 3:. i- c'=: : it;; tion t:ould prob:tbly b© a].l
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i}:a, Ive've
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gv1. ,. so tr ic is 7.., cvcry-
L~uy, ha t,c i:~.::C:_cu's, all ti.a cic,hty-five's, and
ull c;::ic:- is a lo:.g list.
I~:.".. -FL]:Z Cs:a : E:c4cz;e me. M.ay I see that ad
for a r::.m::nt?
i_:x. SiI9.'"J.7.iSS= Yes, six.
1t":. t3-.ir:3: that if we're going to.
r refer to these things, why don't we mark them.
A',R. LG2:L: 1'"cs. The rr>porter will mark the
CIF,L TA%: ad us Defctldu; t's L & ti Exhibit 1D for
ic:: nicif icut A1.cn, l
2-;Fc. : LETCMa: Just, fou know, rot to pre-
etapt- ycu or anything, but can cie agree that these
are all filtcred eigarc:ttes?
A. Y3:,, :ir.
1.Ti. Fi.,:7Zi-::::: 11.:.1 So when you're
`. ».- +,~~~~t.. ' r w, ~ .ou Irc tulk g ~ o
n r, ~~._..r r cir ~ ;. Y.. ..'~out
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.~. Yc:., sir.
A.3 Carie 1J c and Lucky
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; tr~.a:cs you wcre resfor:ing to were thc Carnel and
::. would ?;:c c= chicf coc::l,ctition, ycs, sir.
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