Tobacco Documents Online

CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOBACCO INDUSTRY STRATEGY I. New Challenges and Changing Needs II. Elements of Strategy f A. Defensive: Appendix A B. Positive: Appendix B ("New Initiatives for Industry Action") III. The Interaction of Strategic Elements TWN 0018298

CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION I. New Challenges and Changing Needs These materials are basic, first draft elements of what we hope will become a unified Tobacco Institute strategy. We suggest there is now a fairly urgent need to (a) agree on an over-all strategy; (b) approve certain concepts as its components, and (c) then move ahead and work out the components in detail so that they are tightly planned, concrete sub-programs to a strategy. The need exists -- and is really urgent -- because 1. Multiple challenges are arising increasingly in different categories: health, taxes, ingredients, labeling, advertising, product specification, stabi- lization, and import-export are examples. As new issues are added, the earlier layers do not recede or go away; they continue to grow. 2. Organized adversaries are united for the first time. They are implementing a multi-issue strategy on several fronts simultaneously. 3. Firmly committed supporters are diminishing in the federal and state legislative bodies. More of our natural friends are marginal, frequently with us, but sometimes against us. T][MN 0018299

P a g e 2 C ONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION 4. A positive program is required as a counterpart and to balance our defensive lobbying efforts. It is no longer adequate simply to oppose something. 5. The playing field is being defined and drawn too often by our adversaries. A basic lesson of politics is to develop your own playing field and avoid as much as possible playing on the opposition's playing field. 6. New purposes for the TI now arise with increasing frequency. Originally, the TI had one paramount pur- pose, the federal health controversy. But it now must serve several purposes simultaneously. 7. Individual company strategies are certainly being considered and developed. The industry asso- ciation should create and implement a strategy which both complements and supplements member company strategies. TIlVIN 0018300

CONFIDENTIAL: ' MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION II. The Elements of Strategy Three criteria should be observed in the evolution of strategy: o It must have both defensive and positive elements and they should be complementary; o The over-all strategy should look toward two results: success, and the evolution of a full-service industry association in the process; and, o TI resources should be mobilized according to a pre- cise plan to effectuate all elements of strategy. T][MN 0018301

CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION A. Elements of Defensive Strategy 1. Defensively, there must always be a capability to react to new and sometimes unforeseen circumstances. A primary strategic objective should be to reduce the amount of pure reaction re- quired, but equally, a certain degree of reaction is the pri- mary criterion for strategic defensive preparation. 2. Appendix A describes in detail the anti-tobacco program, multi- faceted and multi-issue in nature, which the coalition of adversary organizations have developed. Opposite each component of the adversary program in Appendix A is the proposed basic response of the TI. Over a period of time, these responses will be developed further, refined, and made more specific. For the moment, they are given as general strategic responses to mul- tiple attacks. 3. The adversary coalition has included nearly every form of attack imaginable in its strategy. Several of these adversary issues are arising independently of coalition planning, springing up on their own. The sub-programs being developed to counteract the coalition strategy will therefore be equally useful in meeting similar attacks which develop from other quarters. 'TIMN 0018302

B. Elements of Positive Strategy: New Initiatives for Industry Action CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION The entire tobacco industry is subject to negative press, adverse legislation and criticism from the public-at-large. To counteract this negative image and to demonstrate to the public that we are a responsible industry and are capable of looking beyond our own interests, we have developed an outline of several public service programs for industry consideration. They are described in detail in Appendix B. The Tobacco Institute is proposing the expansion of the tobacco industry's involvement in public service and social affairs. Our objectives for public involvement are: 1. To receive broad recognition for responsible public service, i.e. to offset the notion that we place profitability above public welfare. 2. To be viewed as constructively addressing tobacco-related issues of public concern. The President has stated that the government is over-extended and it can no longer take full responsibility for programs serving people. President Reagan has asked the private sector and private individuals to aid in the task of alleviating national social and economic con- cerns. The tobacco industry should answer the President's request for private sectorr voluntarism by pooling its resources and exper- tise and embarking on a program of social involvement as an industry. ,1,19N 0018303

Yage ~ CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION The potential positive outcomes of adopting programs of this nature may be: o increased goodwill and reputation of the tobacco industry. o strengthening of social and economic systems in which the industry operates. o the ability to affect the problem areas that most concern the tobacco industry and simultan- eously obtain tax benefits. o a more sophisticated understanding by government regulators of the needslbehaviors of industry. For example, a program to discourage teens from smoking (an adult decision) might prevent or delay further regulation of the tobacco industry. A fire safety program which emphasizes precautions against all potential fire hazards would demon- strate the industry's concern for public safety. All the proposed programs meet our objectives as well as the following selection criteria: 1. Programs must be related to our business -- perhaps not in obvious direct ways. As in all investments there should be a return on this one. TIMN 0018304

CONF'II)ENTIALe MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIC ATION 2. Programs must demonstrate -- not just verbalize the industry's commitment to public service. 3. Programs must help us develop new political and business relationships, i.e. build further alliances. 4. Programs must be consistent with all legitimate legal and poltical strategies. The programs described in Appendix B are in conceptual form. But The Tobacco Institute is prepared to expand them with the addition of delivery mechanisms and communications opportunities. The first two programs in Appendix B-- involving fire safety and teenage smoking -- are, in our estimation, important subjects for industry involvement, and address immediate concerns. The following long range programs should be regarded as indicative of the type of general public service programming the industry could assume. The ideas might well prompt other creative approaches. The programs can be launched quickly, but can be ongoing and can have long term benefits. These outlined programs, again described in Appendix B, are to: support an alternative health research charity. TIMN 0018305

Page 4 CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBAC(:O LITIGATION participate in national and community-based job training and job placement. - provide services to handicapped children and their families. educate young Americans about parenting responsi- bilities and provide services for pregnant teen- agers, young parents and their children. assist in health science education. Finally, we need to take stock of existing industry programs. By compiling information on public service programs being funded by tobacco companies on a local or national level, the Institute can better serve its members and can communicate to public leaders about their specific and general concerns. We can and should be able to tell a Member of Congress about activites we are supporting in his district and about programs with which he is substantively or per- sonally involved. T][MN 0018306

CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION III. The Interaction of Strategic Elements This draft of a proposed industry strategy has been designed to become evolutionary, articulated in more specific detail as it develops, and is refined. All of these steps are directed toward assuring the interaction of both defensive and positive elements. For the Executive Committeee the adoption of this concept will require some increase in policy-making commitment and oversight of a comprehensive strategy. At this point, the initial steps are (a) a decision to develop such an over-all strategy; (b) selections of specific programs from Appendix B as its components, and (c) approval for the TI to move ahead to plan strategic sub-programs with appropriate delivery mech- anisms in greater detail. T][1VIN 0018307