Anne Landman's Collection
Tobacco: Issues Answers Actions
Abstract
This Brown & Williamson manual from 1979 entitled, Tobacco: Issues, Answers, Actions, is a primer for employees on how to answer nagging questions like "How can you deny the overwhelming statistical evidence that smoking causes disease?" and "Does it bother your conscience to sell cigarettes?" It also instructs tobacco industry employees on how to particpate in the industry's pro-tobacco "grass roots" lobbying structure, Tobacco Action Network or TAN.
The industry argues in court that everyone has long been fully aware of the link between smoking and health, and yet in the section of the Question & Answer manual pertaining to smoking and health, employees were instructed to say over and over that the case against smoking isn't proven, that it has been based on flawed statistics and unreliable data, and to point out that a statistical link also exists between lung cancer and use of electric razors.
But the most telling line in the document, the one that cavalierly points out the tobacco industry's decades of purposeful deceipt of the American people, is this quote from William Kloepfer, Jr., director of public relations at the Tobacco Institute (the tobacco industry's public relations and lobbying association):
"Our objective is to bring a seemingly closed subject back to the level of controversy in the public's mind."
User-Contributed Notes
Fields
- Quotes
From Page 5 (Bates No. 0000249440):
The Tobacco Institute
Founded in 1958, The Tobacco Institute is the Washington-based trade association for the tobacco manufacturers. It has 13 company members including Brown & Williamson and four other major cigarette manufacturers. (American Brands is not a member). The Institute is funded entirely by member companies on a pro rata bases, based on annual sales.
The stated mission of the Institute is to lead and direct the resources of the tobacco industry in promoting an understanding and acceptance of the role of tobacco in our society, and to defend the industry against unwarranted restrictions on its right to engage in normal business activities.
"We do not try to sell cigarettes or promote smoking," said William Kloepfer, Jr., director of public relations. "Our objective is to bring a seemingly closed subject back to the level of controversy in the public's mind."
The Institute employes more than 100 persons in its federal and state activities, scientific and public relations departments. Four professional spokespersons--Connie Drath, Bill Dwyer, Anne Browder and Walker Merryman--travel the country to present the views of the tobacco industry to the public through the media and in personal appearances. They have visited 48 states and have appeared on more than one-third of the nation's television stations...
...A major new function of the Institute is the Tobacco Action Network (TAN), which will develop and coordinate state, county and municipal tobacco support groups nationally. TAN organizations for each of the 50 states are now being developed. This effort is essential to combat the state and local attacks on the industry by well organized adversaries. The success of TAN depends upon a high degree of cooperation from the manufacturers and upon voluntary actions of individuals in the "tobacco family." B&W is fully prepared and committed to do its part in making TAN succeed.
Complementing the TAN efforts are six full-time Institute area public affairs managers who further the legislative, public affairs and public communication objectives of the Institute at state and local levels. Ten state TAN directors were operating full-time in 13 states by mid-1979.
Another function of the Institute is management of The Tobacco People's Public Affairs Committee (TOPPAC). Political contributions from executive and administrative employees of the Institute's member companies are distributed by TOPPAC to candidates for congressional office who have the ability to render effective public service and who agree with the industry's philosophy regarding the importance of the free enterprise system.
TOPPAC is registered with teh Federal Election Commission and has contributed between $100 and $1,000 to the campaigns of 50 currently-seated Senators and 243 currently-seated members of the House of Representatives.
[From Page 10 - Bates No. 000249440]
...President Carter has been an ally to our industry in many ways. He is a farmer and among his forebearers were tobacco farmers. During his campaign he told a tobacco audience that the believed the American people had been warned enough about smoking. In the summer of 1978, President Carter empahsized his commitments to the tobacco price support program.
But his support is not consistent. In 1977, President Carter declared April "Cancer Control Month," and stated that the fight against cancer depends on the willingness of the people to alter their habits, including smoking. In early 1979, when repeating his support for the tobacco leaf price stabilization program, he added "...I support the role of the health authorities...who point out the dangers of smoking." And his proposed budget for fiscal year 1980 nearly doubled the allocation for HEW anti-smoking programs from the previous year. Your letters thanking him for his tobacco stands and criticizing his anti-tobacco statements could help solidify his stand on tobacco.
[From Page 33, Bates NO. 0000249440]:
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Individuals associated with the tobacco industry often are confronted by thought-provoking questions regarding smoking and health, public smoking and other issues which make up the controversy surrounding the industry. In the past, employees have not been adequately equipped to deal with these questions.
The following section contains questions and answers about smokign and health and other industry-related issues...
GENERAL SMOKING AND HEALTH
Q. Does smoking cuase lung cancer, emphysema, cardiovascular disease and bronchitis?
A. No one knows. Scientific research has not established that smoking causes disease. We all know that many scientists have said smoking causes certain diseases, but other respected researchers believe cause has not been shown. One thing is clear--more research is needed.
Q. How can you deny the overwhelming statistical evidence that smoking causes disease?
A. The case against smoking is based almost entirely on inferences from statistics. But most scientists will agree that statistical associations cannot establish cause and effect....By the way, there is a statistical association between lung cancer and the use of electric razors. Obviously the questions are complex and only biological research can supply the answers.
Q. Is there such a thing as "smoker's lung"? Can't a doctor look at lung tissue and tell whether it came from a smoker?
A. Not according to expert testimony presented before a Congressional committee. One pathologist stated: "It is not possible, grossly or microscopically, or in any other way known to me, to distinguish between the lung of a smoker or a nonsmoker."...
- Company
- Brown & Williamson
- Author
- Presumed corporate author: Brown & Williamson
- Recipient
- Presumed recipient: B&W company employees
Document Images
