Anne Landman's Collection
Oslo Conference
Abstract
This internal Philip Morris (PM) memo from Matt Winokur (manager of PM Worldwide Regulatory Affairs in Europe) proposes strategies the company could use to change to focus of a 1993 conference in Oslo, Norway on passive smoking. The conference was sponsored by the "Europe Against Cancer program" and the Nordic Cancer Union, and was going to focus on the health hazards of children's exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. The conference was to be held during "European Cancer Week" 1993.
PM's Winokur felt that anyone speaking on behalf of the tobacco industry should avoid the health debate and might "risk ridicule for being a mouthpiece of the industry." He also believed that if PM sent someone from Covington and Burling (C&B, the law firm PM used to help deceive the public about secondhand smoke) that person might "run the likely risk of exposing the relationship" between PM and the law firm. Winokur then suggests how PM could take the meeting's focus off of the health effects of secondhand smoke on children and "sow seeds of discontent within the health fraternity." Winokur says,
"...a more attractive idea...would be to try to create some countervailing publicity concerning the other REAL threats to the health of children and cancer prevention in general that are being overlooked while all this PR time is being spent on smoking...Two approaches come to mind...
1. Find out what cancer related causes and illnesses are NOT getting the support (funding $$$ and PR) their advocates believe they deserve. Find out who those advocates are and find routes to inform them with the information about underfunding. They may not come out publicly but in the long term this may sow seeds of discontent within the health fraternity."
Winokur's second proposal was to find a third party to represent the industry's point of view at the conference "and make sure they have a position which puts the ETS issue in a broader context...For example, the workforce people should say that while ETS may be an issue, it should not... be allowed to overshadow the many other important issues that affect the workplace...and so forth."
This memo shows how PM worked to obscure the link between secondhand smoke exposure and illness (especially regarding children). It was copied to some of the highest executives at PM, including Steven Parrish (Senior Vice President of PM USA in 1993, who later become head of the company), Anthony Andrade (Associate General Counsel for PM), and Marc Firestone, who served as Senior Vice President of PM Worldwide Regulatory Affairs.
Fields
- Notes
"Telex" is the word used to apply to early emails used as a means of internal corporate communication. Most document types labeled "telexes" were essentially internal emails.
Apparently the plan in this memo was carried out. Another memo issued near that time regarding the Oslo conference states,
"Propose RR to either sit in conference and/or to issue a press release based on the real facts of child abuse. Drastic facts can and should be used to balance the messages from the conference..." [PM 2025804903, dated 28 September 1993]. (It is unclear who "RR" is.)
- Quotes
Received your memo...for those I've copied who did not, it refers to an invitation you received to speak at a conference in Oslo on October 11. The conference is sponsored by the Europe Against Cancer program and the Nordic Cancer Union. It is timed to coincide with the EAC's "European Cancer Week" 1993:11-17 October. The "week's" theme is called "Breathing Space" and is focused on "passive smoking". The Oslo meeting will focus on kid's exposures.
Response:
...[B]ased only on the letter and program you sent, its my impression that you or any advocate of even a "balanced view" would get [em]broiled not only on the substance of the debate but would risk ridicule for being a mouthpiece for the industry. And if its not you and, instead, a C&B [Covington and Burling] consultant for example, we'd probably run the likely risk of exposing the relationship.
The forum seems so biased...including Dr. Alan Blum...that i just don't see how we could even make a dent in their mentality, at least not on THEIR terms.
Alternative:
A more attractive idea, at least in theory, would be to try to create some countervailing publicity concerning the other REAL threats to the health of children and cancer prvention in general that are being overlooked while all this PR time is being spent on smoking...
Two approaches come to mind:
1. Find out what cancer related causes and illnesses are NOT getting the support (funding $$$ and PR) their advocates believe they deserve. Find out who those advocates are and find routes to them with the information about underfunding. They may not come out publically but in the long term this may sow seeds of discontent within the health fraternity.
2. Identify the parties who are the real targets of the EAC "Breathing Space" campaign and make sure they have a position which puts the ETS issue into a broader context, i.e., their context. For example, the workforce people should say that while ETS may be an issue, it should not be taken out of context and allowed to overshadow the many other important issues that affect the workplace...and so forth...
- Company
- Philip Morris
- Author
- Winokur, Matthew N. (PM Europe, Manager, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs)
- Recipient
- Carlson, Stig (PM Corp. Affairs Director - EEMA Region)based in Sweden
Document Images
