Anne Landman's Collection
PR-PROJECT: CONFERENCE ON BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF SMOKING
Abstract
This document reveals the tobacco industry's efforts to generate favorable public relations for itself in the "tobacco and health controversy" by organizing a conference in which participants would expound on the beneficial effects of nicotine. The aim was to hide the industry's involvement in putting on such a conference. The author's intent is painstakingly clear, and belies the method of operation the industry chose to employ for years to come:
"...The industries concerned must by all means assure that no connection between them and this conference will be known publicly. Otherwise, the scientific and the PR value would be reduced to a minimum."
The writer further suggests the industry obscure its involvement:
"[The]organizer could be either a medical society, a medical journal or a government agency...",
and,
"...Participants should be medical doctors, who are known to be opinion leaders, and selected medical and scientific journalists of each sponsoring country."
Speakers were to be "top scientists who have got international reputations" and who "are not suspect of being protagonists of the interests of the tobacco industry."
Fields
- Notes
Confidential. Translation. Poor copy; requires magnification.
- Quotes
Short analysis of situation on smoking-health controversy:
Until today scientific research on tobacco and smoking is strongly biased towards concentrating on supposed health risks of smoking. Smokers feel increasingly unsecure about their habit inasmuch as the results of such research become part of the widespread popular controversy on smoking and health. Yet, amount 2 billion people all over the world do smoke. Therefore, smoking must have some beneficial effects for them.
According to various research work smoking furhers concentration and the ability of learning and of decision-making, on one hand; on the other hand it lowers the level of emotional arousa, of fear, and of aggressiveness.
Industry's aim:
These beneficial effects should be elucidated and evaluated by leading scientists and at the same time made understandable to the interested public, smokers and non-smokers. Such a rationalization of [a] primarily irrational habint should aim at furnishing smokers with a sound argumentation to justify their smoking before themselves and others, thus building up a counter-position against a growing anti-smokign surrounding.
Proposed PR Measure:
To deal with these beneficial effects in all their various aspects a scientific conference is proposed of about 3 days' length. The set up should be an international one because the PR problem is an international one, too. Therefore, such countries in which the smoking and health controversy is most likely to produce damaging effects on the image of smoking and which have already demonstrated their concern should be the sponsors of this conference, e.g. USA, Austria, and the Federal Republic of German. The industries concerned must by all means assure that no connection between them and this conference will be known publicly. Otherwise, the scientific and the PR value would be reduced to a minimum.
Organizer could be either a medical society, a medical journal or a government agency of a country which is not yet deeply committed in the smoking-health controversy but has leaf tobacco interests. The latter is necessary to make its role as organizer understandable to the public.
As a newcomer to the EEC and an important tobacco growing country we can imagine Greece to be such an ideal organizer.
Participants should be medical doctors, who are known to be opinion leaders, and selected medical and scientific journalists of each sponsoring country.
For speakers only top scientists should be invited who have got international reputation and are not suspect of being protagonists of the interests of the tobacco industry.
This conference should not only have an immediate echo in the press but should also produce a documentation serving as a valuable source of reference.
- Company
- Philip Morris
- Author
- N/A
- Recipient
- N/A
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