Tobacco Documents Online

This document presents an idea to promote Marlboro cigarettes by linking the purchase of Marlboros to the politically popular idea of land conservation. The idea was that Philip Morris, through a "substantial endownment," would start a private, non-profit organization called the "Marlboro Conservancy" whose mission would be to "help conserve America's wilderness." The Marlboro Conservancy would make donations to "recognized mainstream conservationist organizations" ("not eco-terrorist groups") to help purchase land with the object of saving it from development. The slogan for the promotion would be "Keep it Wild, Keep it Free," and the program objectives were to "strengthen YAMS relationship with the Brand" by making "an emotional appeal" towards land conservation. Spin-offs would include tee shirts, concerts (the "Keepin' it Wild" Music Festival"), a media tour and a meeting with "influencers" in Washington, D.C. The public relations expectation was that the a program would "help add credibility among various constituencies and address potenial negatives" by allowing PM to partner with legitimate, mainstream land conservation groups in the major media. Customers would have to smoke their way to land conservation, though, since it would take 25 UPC symbols to "earn" membership in the Marlboro Conservancy. In addition, for a limited time, each pack purchased would trigger and "automatic donation of $X" from Marlboro to The Conservancy.

This is an excellent example of a corporate entity attemtpting to co-opt a popular environmental cause to enhance its own profits, to the actual detriment of its individual consumers.

This expansive, 295-page confidential report was prepared for the Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company in 1976. Its purpose was to examine present and past trends and predict what would be likely to affect the future of the cigarette market through the year 1990. It is a vast, comprehensive report (and surprisingly prescient). Its market analyses predict future cigarette sales based on such measures as per capita income and educational levels, fertility rates, life expectancy, likelihood of regulatory legislation, changes in attitudes towards smoking and tobacco issues, world population growth, key trends like changing social values, and more.

The study predicted that social acceptability of smoking would decrease, and noted that even smokers "strongly favored restrictions" in where they could smoke.

"Thus the smoker will find himself increasingly restricted as his habit beceoms less socially acceptable. The study questioned both smokers and non-smokers and this favoring of restrictions was exhibited strongly by smokers as well as nonsmokers."(page 53).

The report also found that teenage girls were exhibiting a marked increase in smoking rates and individual consumption. While mentioning that teenage girls are not a "legitimate market," the paper mentions that this trend "will provide a substantial mrket in the future."

"The implication of these trends is that although this particular age groups is not a legitimate marketing target per se, it will provide a substantial market in the future if trends continue."

Of particular interest was the discussion about drug use and changing social values that permit wider use of drugs, particularly marijuana. Some people have stated that the tobacco industry has trademarked the street names of various types of marijuana for use if and when marijuana ever becomes legalized. The report confirms this, and even goes so far as to predict the value of a legalized marijuana market:

"[Marijuana] is the recreational drug; the choice of a significant minority of the population.

The trend in liberalization of drug laws reflect the overall change in our value system. It also has important implications for teh tobacco industry in terms of an alternative product line. "(The tobacco companies) have the land to grow it, the machines to roll it and package it [and] the distribution to market it" (Reference 20). In fact, some firms have registered trademarks which are taken directly from marijuana street jargon. These tradenames are used currently on little known legal products, but could be switched if and when marijuana is legalized. Estimates indicate that the market in legalized marijuana might be as high as $10 billion annually..."