Philip Morris Attacks 'Truth' Campaign

On February 12th, Philip Morris USA released publicly their concerns that the American Legacy Foundation's anti-smoking ad campaign and Web site violate "the spirit" of the agreement that funds them. Philip Morris USA is hinting its billion-dollar payments toward the effort may be in jeopardy unless major changes are made.
full article

Some of the American Legacy Foundation's "ambush" ads have been rejected by CBS and Fox Networks while the target, Philip Morris, is considering legal action.
full article

The aggressive new anti-smoking campaign is being scaled back just a week after it was launched. The ads were financed by cigarette makers as part of a massive 1998 legal settlement with 46 states. But now tobacco companies are complaining these first ads go too far.
full article

The American Legacy Foundation withdraws ads to defuse a potentially distracting debate over whether the ads amounted to an improper personal attack on tobacco companies or were an arresting way to educate teens about smoking's risks. One of the ads shows young people stacking "body bags" on the sidewalk outside a tobacco company building; the other shows teens equipped with a lie detector trying to get into a tobacco company's offices to quiz sales executives about whether smoking was addictive.
full article

The American Legacy Foundation, led by Christine Gregoire, caved in to threats from Philip Morris and a couple of pro-tobacco attorneys general. ALF pulled the strong ads that they had planned to run. The threats that the industry made are standard operating procedure.
full article

How to Make Lots and Lots of Money Go Up in Smoke
"Tobacco kills" has been proved again and again to be unmotivating for the adolescent audience that a) defies authority, and b) imagines itself invulnerable. What does impress teen-agers is a credible appeal to their vanity -- i.e., tobacco makes you smell, tobacco makes your teeth yellow, smoke repulses the opposite sex and cancer destroys beauty.
full article

ALF Should Force Court Ruling on "The Truth"
The Master Settlement Agreement states that American Legacy Foundation's education fund "shall not be used for any personal attack on, or vilification of, any person, company, or governmental agency, whether individually or collectively." In contrast to claims in the included Washington Post article, it is important to note that "The Truth" ads by the ALF do not violate the MSA until and unless a tobacco company challenges ALF in court, and the court rules against ALF.
full article



tobacco freedom logo
home | Attorneys General MSA index | CCAA | Issues | about US | back
For questions about this Website, contact CyberSmooth at InfoImagination © 2000