Anne Landman's Collection
Biotech: Discovering new ways to blame the smoker? Letter from Burson Marstellar to PM, 1996
Abstract
In this letter, Michael Johnson, the Director of Media for Philip Morris' PR firm Burson-Marstellar in London, invites PM to team up with an "advanced biotech research organization" in Britain that is involved in the human genome project. Johnson proposes that perhaps through human genome research they could locate a gene that predisposes people to smoking-related diseases. Johnson helpfully suggests that this could both encourage smoking while relinquishing Philip Morris from liability for selling a deadly product: "This work could be interesting to Philip Morris for at least three reasons:
--A simple test might eventually be devised to tell a smoker whether or not he is at risk. This would put the burden of any consequence from smoking on the individual, and would clear the way for the non-susceptible population to smoke with a clear conscience.
--Philip Morris would be seen to be contributing to research into the health effects of smoking...
--Finally, someone will eventually get around to this kind of research. Wouldn't it be better to be leading it?"
Fields
- Notes
NOTES: In casting about for something other than tobacco that they could point to as being the culprit causing lung disease in smokers, the tobacco industry has come up with some interesting hypotheses. Their "carotene hypothesis" attempted to blame lung cancer on a high intake of dietary carotene: (http://www.pmdocs.com/getallimg.asp?DOCID=2024258946). Another view, promoted for some time, was the "Constitutional Hypothesis," which claimed that a genetic defect caused some human beings to "have difficulty adapting to the problems of existence." Thus they claimed that smoking was a substitute for people's normal coping mechanisms (http://www.pmdocs.com/getallimg.asp?DOCID=1005136046.) One of the most bizarre theories was the "Reverse Hypothesis," in which Philip Morris scientists tried to find some way to substantiate the claim that lung disease causes smoking. Today's document seems to represent a form of the "self-selection" hypothesis, which proposes that the people with the highest tendency toward getting cancer for some reason also tend to choose to smoke.
- Quotes
An advanced biotech research organisation in the UK, Amersham International, is involvedin the genome project--th elong term effort to identify all human genes. Through a friend of mine, I have discovered a possible Amercham project that could have an impact on the tobacco industry. You may be miles ahead of me in this area, but I thought it was important enough to pass along, just in case.
The point of this project would be to help individuals understand their genetic susceptibility to disease related to smoking. Since we all react differently to the effects of smoking, it obviously would be useful for each person to know whether or not he or she carries the genes that make ill effects likely.
This work could be interesting to Philip Morris for at least three reasons:
--A simple test might eventually be devised to tell a smoker whether or not he is at risk. This would put the burden of any consequence from smoking on the individual, and would clear the way for the non-susceptible population to smoke with a clear conscience.
--Philip Morris would be seen to be contributing to research into the health effects of smoking. Among other things, the research could determine the proportion of the population most at risk, potentially a powerful piece of information.
--Finally, someone will eventually get around to this kind of research. Wouldn't it be better to be leading it?
- Company
- Philip Morris
- Author
- Johnson, Michael (Burson Marstellar, London, Dir. of Media)Director of Media, Burson Marstellar, London
- Recipient
- Greenberg, David I. (PM Gov't Affairs VP 1990, VPCorp. Affairs, PM EEMA Region 9)Vice President PM USA 1989
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