Anne Landman's Collection
Oregon Preemptive Strategy
Abstract
This Tobacco Institute document shows how the tobacco industry scares the health care industry out of supporting increased taxes on cigarettes. The paper describes an ad campaign that portrays doctors as money-grubbing party-hounds and hospital firms as greedy profiteers. The tobacco industry also tries to make it appear as though tobacco is allied with some health care groups in opposing the tax. "Goals:
(1) To reduce the eagerness of the health care industry to support higher taxes on cigarettes.
(2) To start positioning the battle as people with white uniforms on one side vs. people with white uniforms + the tobacco industry and taxpayer groups on the other side, rather than white coats vs. TI alone."
The document describes an ad campaign that shows a "cork flying out of [a] champagne bottle suspended on an intravenous solution rack, with IV tube running into arm of a partially seen person lying in a hospital bed." The doctors are partying because they are going to start making more money. The rest of the ad claims that personal choices about health care will become more restricted and that some other health care groups (like dentists, chiropractors and therapists) join the tobacco industry in opposing the tax.
The industry's political strategy regarding tax measures is specifically aimed at confusing voters, as described by the following quotes from a related document (Bates No. TIOR0020292/0307) :
"Make our hat whiter, make their hat blacker. Through involvement in two health care initiatives, blur tobacco's relationship to the health care community."
and,
"Create an environment where there are some doctors on our side (of health care reform) and some doctors against us--make voters a little uneasy about who the good guys really are." http://www.tobaccoinstitute.com/getallimg.asp'DOCID=TIOR0020292/0307
Fields
- Quotes
Oregon Preemptive Strategy Goals:
(1) To reduce the eagerness of the health care industry to support higher taxes on cigarettes.
(2) To start positioning the battle as people with white uniforms on one side vs. people with white univorms + the tobacco industry and taxpayer groups on the other side, rather than white coats vs. TI alone.
CONCEPTUAL CREATIVE
Print advertisement. Pervasive placement in dailies and weeklies, possibly also local editions of newsmagazines. Also, possible placement in key national publications, e.g. Wall Street Journal...
Photo or Illustration:
Cork flying out of champagne bottle suspended on an intravenous solution rack, with IV tube running into arm of partially seen person laying in hospital bed. Possible label [on] bottle: "MD and Hospital Rates."
HEADLINE: HAPPY NEW YEAR, OREGON!
Subhead: The party's just begun.
Copy: Oregon's wealthiest MD's and major hospital corporations have good reasons to celebrate. Recent changes to the Oregon Health Plan mean that physician rate and hospital charges can never be reduced...
...Better yet for MD's and hospital companies , they get paid by the state whether you get treated or not. The less care you receive, the more profit they make.
Finally, many MD's and hospital companies are backing a tax increase of more than $200 million per year, with half the money going earmarked for...guess who? You're right, $100 million per year more for MD's and hospitals...
If you would like to join our cause, please return the coupon today...
This advertisement was paid for by the Oregon (name several health organizations with support from a grant from the Tobacco Institute. We don't agree on many things, but we all agree that higher taxes and unfair control of your health care is bad medicine for Oregon.
- Company
- Tobacco Institute
- Author
- Presumed corporate author, the Tobacco Institute
- Region
- United States
- Type
- REPORT
- Litigation
- Doj Civil
- Subject
- taxation
- industry influence
- industry response
- industry strategy
- advertising activity
- advertising campaign
- advertising message
- industry influence
Document Images
