Comments Susan M Stuntz Indoor Air Quality Programs June 16, 1988

Anne Landman's Collection

Comments Susan M Stuntz Indoor Air Quality Programs June 16, 1988

Date: 16 Jun 1988
Length: 77 pages
TIDN0008912-TIDN0008988
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Abstract

In this 1988 speech, Tobacco Institute executives explain industry strategies for fighting clean indoor air laws, creating allies, mobilizing "grassroots" support and marginalizing public health authorities. The first speaker, Susan Stuntz (Director of Issues Management at the Tobacco Institute), explains how promoting ventilation as the sole solution to tobacco smoke pollution helps the Institute "ensure that smoking restrictions are no longer seen as the best solution to cleaning up the indoor air..."

Stuntz introduces one of the industry's more brash front groups, the "National Institute for Conflict Education," or N.I.C.E. NICE was to feature celebrity-actor Hal Holbrook as it's attention-grabbing spokesperson, and would perform "research," the pre-determined conclusions of which would be that by pursuing smoke-free indoor air, public health advocates were over-reacting to one of "life's everyday annoyances." The research would conclude that public health advocates were "anti-social," and smokers were just getting a "bum rap."

Stuntz explains,

"...We believe that annoyance is one of the keys to the social acceptability question. Smokers believe that their smoke is annoying, that they are the problem, that they are the ones who are acting in an anti-social way. Our program will demonstrate that it is the overreaction to life's everyday annoyances, including anti-smokers' overreaction to smoking, that is, in fact, the anti-social behavior. Our program would establish a broad-based coalition with a celebrity spokesperson who will cite research to show smokers that obnoxious anti-smokers are the problem... To make all of this happen, we would work with other organizations to establish a National Institute for Conflict Education...known by the acronym N.I.C.E., to conduct quantitative and qualitative research to demonstrate how normal, everyday people deal with common everyday annoyances. The organization would show that Americans as a group view smoking as but one of life's many every day annoyances...Actor Hal Holbrook has indicated that he is interested in being the spokesman for the group. He will be supported by a team of social scientists who will help interpret and communicate research findings. With Hal Holbrook in the lead, the coalition will release its research findings through advertising in national decision-maker publications, and through media tours, op-eds and feature stories. We will enlist Holbrook's help in speaking directly to smokers..."

Stuntz cites a benefit of N.I.C.E.: "It puts a respected celebrity in our camp, to offset some of the Captain Kangaroos out there.

The speech also talks about the industry's highly successful use of labor unions, how the industry worked to undermine the Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, and says the Institute spent about $29.5 million over 18 months to implement public affairs programs like those described in the talk.

Fields

Notes

Hal Holbrook was a featured actor in many American TV shows primarily during the 1970's to 1980's. Ironically, in 1994 he starred in a re-make of a Perry Mason TV episode called "The case of the Lethal Lifestyle." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001358/

Quotes

"Just as the Center for Indoor Air Research deals with [secondhand smoke] issues on a scientific level...it is our charge every day to deal with the scientific issues from a public relations standpoint...The Intitutes' indoor air quality program is designed to demonstrate that environmental tobacco smoke is but a minor part of indoor air pollution and that improved ventilation is the best solution to all air quality problems. We are well on the way to establishing a network of ventilation and scientific air quality experts to represent a variety constituencies with this message...We must do more, much more, to ensure that smoking restrictions are no longer seen as the best solution to cleaning up the indoor air...Representatives from several chemical and ventilation companies have expressed an interest in joining with the institute in such a coalition...

[From Page TIDN0008927]:

To date, organized labor has been by far the most receptive audience to our indoor air quality message. In fact, they've become more than an audience. In many instances labor is taking the lead in supporting ventilation legislation as an alternative to smoking restrictions...Because they are so scattered, the local [labor union] affiliates are the most difficult to reach, but they are also the most important. They are the foot soldiers on whom we'll rely to promote ventilation legislation.

[From Page TIDN 0008933]:

Our indoor air quality program counsels that annoyances associated with ETS [environmental tobacco smoke] can best be dealt with through ventilation. Our conflict resolution program looks at annoyance from a different perspective. Annoyance is a subject that has been examined many times and in many different ways. We believe that annoyance is one of the keys to the social acceptability question. Smokers believe that their smoke is annoying, that they are the problem, that they are the ones who are acting in an anti-social way. Our program will demonstrate that it is the overreaction to life's everyday annoyances, including anti-smokers' overreaction to smoking, that is, in fact, the anti-social behavior.

Our program would establish a broad-based coalition with a celebrity spokesperson who will cite research to show smokers that obnoxious anti-smokers are the problem...that smokers are getting a bum rap.

To make all of this happen, we would work with other organizations to establish a national institute for conflict educaction...known by the acronym N.I.C.E., to conduct quantitative and qualitative research to demonstrate how normal, everyday people deal with common everyday annoyances. The organization would show that Americans as a group view smoking as but one of life's many every day annoyances...and that they are as opposed as we are to extreme overreactions...like squirting water pistols at smokers.

Actor Hal Holbrook has indicated that he is interested in being the spokesman for the group. He will be supported by a team of social scientists who will help interpres and communicate research findings. With Hal Holbrook in the lead, the coalition will release its research findings through advertising in national decision-maker publications, and through media tours, op-eds and feature stories. We will enlilst Holbrook's help in speaking directly to smokers, with messages such as the one you see here, through direct mail, carton inserts, and your own publications...

...We have made enough contacts to know that we will be able to attract a number of business, professional, minority and labor groups to join the coalition. As we do with smokers, other members of the coalition will use the research with their own constituents...The Business and Professional Women of America, for example, would like to offer conflict resolution seminarts to their hundreds of local chapters. State and local restaurant groups would provide materials for their employees...

We like a program like th is for a number of reasons:

--It puts a new twist on the question of annoyance. --It doesn't preach to smokers. --It puts a respected celebrity in our camp, to offset some of the Captain Kangaroos out there. --It underscores the extreme behavior of anti-smokers. --And, it adds a new dimension to our coalition work.

[TIDN0008951] ...Finally...Our program offers opportunities for businesses to publicly recognize the economic importantce of smokers by participating in a Great American Welcome later this year. At the same time that they American Cancer Society is attempting to ostracize smokers with its Great American Smokeout, we will ask businesses, trade groups, unions, to display the decal that indicated that they provide gracious treatment to all of their customers and visitors, smokers and nonsmokers alike. Those who sign up will be catalogued and their businesses mentioned in full page ads to run just prior to the Smokeout.

[From Section by Jeff Ross starting on Page TIDN0008955]:

One of our oldest and most basic ideas is the need for smokers' rights groups.

R.J. Reynolds and Philip morris are already reaching large numbers of smokers with excellent materials.

We see the Insitute's role as more limited. But, we know it can work. This year we developed a successful working relationship on the airline smoking issue with the smokers' rights alliance -- an Arizona based smokers rights group. Specifically, we plan to identify and assist amokers rights groups in those states with the greatest anti-smoker activity. For example, two thirds of all local anti smoker activity occurs in just six states: California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Texas, New York and Arizona.

In assisting these groups we face a dilemma: IF we provide funds to a group, we are legally responsible for that they say about tobacco, so there must be controls. But, if we do not provide funds, these groups will limp along and accomplish less than we need. And we VERY MUCH NEED these people to help with letters to the editor, mailings to legislators, at legislative hearings and generally head to head with the antis.

Our solution is to help groups to develop and distribute their own packets of materials on our various issues...With our help, each group will produce a sufficient number of packets for their own use and for distribution to other smokers' rights groups. In this way, we can assist smokers' rights groups while at the same time maintaining control over the content of our materials produced with our funds...

Company

Tobacco Institute

Author

Stuntz, Susan M. (TI Issues Management Director, VP)

Helped organize a program to create a backlash against the insurance industry after they instituted non-smoker discounts for policy holders.

Region

United States

Named Organization

Center for Indoor Air Research (CIAR) (Industry formed/funded air research organization)

Nonprofit organization funded by the tobacco industry. CIAR was formed in March 1988 by tobacco companies "to sponsor "high-quality research on indoor air issues and to facilitate communication of research findings to the broad scientific community."

ACVA Atlantic (Predecessor of Healthy Buildings International, a PM front g)

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Held hearings in 1994 to ban smoking in workplaces)

OSHA opened hearings in September 1994 on a proposal that amounts to a virtual ban on smoking in every workplace in the nation

AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organiza)

Labor Union

American Cancer Society

Atlantic Economic Association

Southern Economic Association

Western Economic Association

George Mason University

U.S. Chamber Foundation (National Business Org.; a conduit for TI programs)

R. J. Reynolds

Philip Morris

Smokers Rights Alliance

Best Type Office Environments (Private company involved with designing offices)

Worked with Tobacco Institute

Smoking Policy Institute

Clean Air Associates

Hilton International

IBM

Kodak

Chase Manhattan Bank

RCA

AT&T

BNA

Washington Legal Foundation (Supports industry causes)

Environmental Air Controls

NICE, National Institute for Conflict Education

Front group proposed by Tobacco Institute to portray people who don't want to be arounbd smoke as intolerant and unable to deal with everyday annoyances.

Business & Professional Women America

Litigation

Dunn

Operation/Project

Smokers Rights Groups (Organizations set up to promote "smokers rights")

Organizations set up by Philip Morris throughout Europe and in the United States to help defeat anti-tobacco legislation, smoking restrictions, etc.

Opposing smoking restrictions

National Institute for Conflict Education

Named Person

Kassman, A.

Robertson, John Graham "Gray" (ACVA Atlantic Inc. Indoor Air Polution consultant)

1994 Long time ventilation consultant for industry. Proposed as a consultant to comment on Federal OSHA proposal on workplace smoking. See @healthy_buildings_intl

Holbrook, Hal - actor

Ross, J.

Knebel, F.

Rosner, B.

Addison, R.

Bannon, G.

Pompidou, G.

Tollison, Robert D. (industry consultant)

1994 Used by industry to discuss economic and other impacts of OSHA regulation of workplace smoking. Proposed consultant to comment on Federal OSHA proposal on workplace smoking.

Wagner

Prendergast, W.

Type