USC Tobacco Industry Monitoring Project Collection
Comments of Samuel D. Chilcote, Jr. Executive Committee Meeting
Abstract
Lorillard document of Chilcote speech discussing the public smoking issue as a "weak" issue promulgated by nonexistent science. Describes how the Institute's four spokesman reach 40 million people. Discusses Institute public relations campaigns capable of "overshadowing Dr. Weis" (an anti-industry scientist) as an issues management strategy. Similarly, in the area of fire safety he notes we are moving quickly with fire safety programs to preempt the "self-extinguishing" cigarette battles in at least 13 states in 1987. Discusses consultant's study in Europe and concludes that "European Firefighters feel that 'self-extinguishing' cigarettes make no sense." Discusses grant to The Foundation for Fire Safety intended to fund research and describes TI request for another funding solicitation to deal with projects smoke detector projects. Describes grassroots lobbying efforts to combat fire safety issue. Concludes by discussing cursorily national issue management efforts on excise taxes and proposition movements.
Fields
- Target Market
- None
- Subject
- Fire Safe Cigarettes
Document Images
OU WERE TO LOOK BACK OVER THE PAST
20 TO 30 YEARS,.~YOU WOULD SEE A PATTERN.
PROFESS.OROLITICIAN, SCIENTIST OR JOURNALIST
TYPICALLY .ENOUGH,.. SOME OBSCURE COLLEGE
RA I SES :A'N ;.:1 SSUE.-:_ THE ARGUMENTS ARE WEAK, ;
INSTANCES, THE WHOLE MATTER IS FORGOTTEN IN A
THE DOCUMENTATI"ON IS NONEXISTENT AND IN SOME
MATTER OF WEEKS.
GOOD MORNING, GENTLEMEN.
BUT,`IN OTHER INSTANCES, THE ISSUE
CAPTURES_THE IMAGINATION OF THE PUBLIC...
--: ::'. H. ..~++ ~+...: ...-. . ' - .:... . . . . . ,
AIDED BYTHE MEDIA. THE "ISSUE" TURNS INTO
A SNOWBALL=OF CRlTICiSM...POLITICIANS SEE
:. ~:. . _
- LEGISLATIVE SOLUTIONS... AND CONSUMERS LOSE
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CONFIDENCE IN WHATEVER INDUSTRY OR INSTITUTION
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BY EXAMPLE, THE PUBLIC SMOKING ISSUE
WHICH WAS COMING A LONG TIME... IT
HAD ALL.OF THE CLASSIC, EARLY CHARACTERISTICS.
TODAY, 70 PERCENT OF THE PUBLIC BELIEVES
CIGARETTE.SMOKE IN THE AIR IS HARMFUL TO
NONSMOKERS, AND MOST OF THE STATE LEGISLATION
WE FACE INVOLVES PUBLIC SMOKING.
THE PUBLIC SMOKING ISSUE IS AN EXCELLENT
EXAMPLE OF AN ISSUE THAT WAS ALLOWED TO MANAGE
US. BUT, WE ARE NOW... FOR THE FIRST TIME...
BEGINNINGTO MANAGE IT.
MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM ISSUE
'F I REF 1 GHT I NG" TO 1 SSUE MANAGEMENT ;lS A
:: - -- :
DIFFICULT PROCESS... NOT ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT
FROM SWITCHING FROM A MANUFACTURING TO A
MARKETING ORIENTATION. NOT ONLY MUST THE
ORGANIZATION BE DIFFERENT... THERE MUST BE
CHANGES:IN ATTITUDES... WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
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OVER THE PAST YEAR, WE HAVE BEEN MAKING
THAT TRANSITION. WE HAVE IDENTIFIED KEY,
TALENTED, KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE WITHIN THE
ORGANIZATION...AND HAVE ATTRACTED OTHERS.
VE_..:.TO AN INCREASING EXTENT...BROKEN
DOWN SOME DF THE TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
AND OPERATING BARRIERS...AND WE ARE TRACKING
1SSUESAND WE ARE BRINGING TOGETHER OUR
LOBBYISTS...OUR PUBLIC RELATIONS PEOPLE...
OUR CONSULTANTS AND ANALYSTS...OUR ATTORNEYS...
AND OUR PROFESSIONAL MANAGERS IN WAYS WHICH
PROMOTE COOPERATION AND RESULTS.
- THIS MORNING...MY COMMENTS WILL FOCUS
ON THE WORK OF OUR ISSUES MANAGEMENT TEAMS.
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SO...LET ME RETURN TO THE PUBLIC
SMOKING ISSUE. IT IS A DIFFICULT AREA BECAUSE
FRANKLY...WE ENTERED"THE BATTLE WELL AFTER
I_T STARTED.'AS YOU KNOW, THE APPROACH WE
HAVE TAKEN,:HAS BEEN SIMPLE, HIGHLY VISIBLE AND
IRECT. FORµEXAMPLE: '
OUR NATIONAL ADVERTISING PROGRAM HAS
FOCUSED ON THE PUBLIC SMOKING ISSUE. NEXT
YEAR...WE PLAN TO DO THE SAME AND MORE.
PARANTHETICALLY...THE COMMUNICATIONS
OMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF COUNSEL WILL
E REVIEWING OUR RECOMMENDATIONS AND IF THEY
CO_NCUR...YOU WILL-BE ASKED TO APPROVE OUR
1983 NATIONAL ADVERTISING PROGRAM AT YOUR
MEETING, DECEMBER 9.
WE HAVE DEVELOPED ISSUE PAPERS, PAMPHLETS
A FILM AND PUBLICATIONS...WE WILL BE CONDUCTING
A SEMINAR...AND AS I'VE JUST MENTIONED, OUR
NATIONAL ADVERTISING...ALL OF WHICH DEALS
'WITH THIS.IMPORTANT ISSUE.
.
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AND THE INSTITUTE'S FOUR SPOKESMEN...
WHO WILL REACH MORE THAN 40 MILLION PEOPLE
PUT FORTH T.HE SAME ARGUMENTS,
OFTENIN DEBATES WITH ANTI-SMOKERS.
WE ARE SPEAKING WITH LEGISLATORS...
REGULATORS.'..BUSINESS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS.
LABOR ORGANIZATIONS... THE GENERAL PUBLIC...
ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN.
LAST WEEK IN BRUSSELS, I HAD THE
OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW A NEW FILM PREPARED
BY PHILIP7MORRIS AND BEING OFFERED BY INFOTAB.
THE FILM MAKES MANY OF THE SAME POINTS WE
CONTINUE~'-T0 MAKE... IT DOES SO IN A FORCEFUL
.,
~
A FEW MODIFICATIONS, IT WILL
.WAY. AND WITH
MAKE AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO OUR ARSENAL.
LET ME SHOW 1T TO YOU... IT IS IN ROUGH
FORM.AWAITING FURTHER EDITING AND POLISHING.
(SHOW F ILM)
V
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THE PUBLIC SMOKING ISSUE IS PERHAPS
THE LARGEST... MOST SEVERE... CHALLENGE WE
FACE. IT HAS -MANY -SUB-ISSUES.
ONE
OF THOSE SUB-ISSUES, "SMOKING IN
THE WORKPLACE,". IS STILL EVOLVING.
L1KE SO MANY ISSUES, IT TRACES ITS
ORIGINS TO AN OBSCURE PROFESSOR... DR..WILLIAM
WEIS OF SEATTLE WHO BELIEVES THAT EMPLOYERS
WOULD SAVE THEMSELVES A GOOD DEAL OF ANGUISH
AND MONEY IF THEY SIMPLY STOPPED HIRING
SMOKERS AND THEN BANNED SMOKING OUTRIGHT.
THE AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION HAS
- I DE-IT I F I ED "SMOK I NG I N THE WORKPLACE" AS
THEIR PRIMARY "NONSMOKER'S RIGHTS" ISSUE OF
THE YEAR.
A RATHER IMPRESSIVE LIST OF CORPORATIONS
ARE ADDRESSING THE ISSUE. TO NAME A FEW:.
AMERICAN EXPRESS...XEROX...AT&T...
BURGER KING...MOB1L...THE NEW YORK TIMES...
SALOMON BROTHERS...JOHNSON & JOHNSON...AND
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. ALL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS
=-- AS WELL AS MANY GOVERNMENT AGENC 1 ES .--
EITHER RESTRICT SMOKING OR ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEES
TO QUIT.
THERE HAVE BEEN LAWSUITS AND LEGISLATION
REGARDING SMOKING IN PLACES WHERE PEOPLE WORK.
JUST LAST WEEKEND, THE AMERICAN RED
CROSS FORMALLY CONSIDERED THIS MATTER...AND,
AS YOU KNOW, ITS BOARD VOTED TO.
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ALMOST TWO-THIRDS OF THE PUBLIC -- AND
BETTER THAN HALF OF ALL SMOKERS -- THINK THAT
THERE SHOULD BE SEPARATE SMOKING AND
NONSMOKING SECTIONS WHERE PEOPLE WORK.
AND AMAZINGLY ENOUGH..'.ONE IN FIVE
AMERICANS BELIEVE THAT AN EMPLOYER HAS THE
RIGHT TO DENY EMPLOYMENT TO A SMOKER.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
ONCE AGAIN...WE HAVE AN ISSUES
MANAGEMENT TEAM ON THE JOB.
IN THE SHORT TERM, THEY HAVE PiCKED
APART DR. WEIS' WORK AND WILL SOON PROPOSE
SPEClFiC
RESEARCH TO COUNTER WEiS' ARGUMENTS.
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AT THE SAME TIME...RECOGNIZING THAT WE
OUR TEAM HAS MET WITH A SIMILAR= 1SSUES
NEED MORE_THAN JUST ONE PIECE OF RESEARCH...
ARGUMENTS ALONE WILL NOT BE ENOUGH.
PLAN CAPABLE OF OVERSHADOWING DR. WEIS.
MORE ON VOLUME AND VISIBILITY THAN ON
INTELLECT. SO WE ARE DEVELOPING A PROMOTIONAL
THAT EFFORT TO MAKE SURE THE WORK IS MUTUALLY
SUPPORTIVE.
MEN, IT DOESN'T TAKE AN ISSUES
MANAGEMENT TEAM TO KNOW THAT DR. WEIS DEPENDS
OUR OWN. -WE ARE KEEPING IN CLOSE TOUCH WITH
PONSOR RESEARCH WHICH WE HOPE WILL COMPLEMENT
MANAGEMENT GROUP FROM INFOTAB WHICH PLANS TO
THIS ISSUE IS STILL AT A REASONABLY
EXAMPLE OF WHAT ISSUES MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
EARLY STATE. I EXPECT IT TO PROVIDE A GOOD
CAN ACHIEVE.
WE ARE ALSO APPLYING THE ISSUES
MANAGEMENT APPROACH TO THE ACCIDENTAL FIRE
OUR PROGRAM...'. I NSUPPORT OF F I RE SAFETY
AND FIREFIGHTERS... HAS-BEEN APPROVED IN
CONCEPT. WE ARE MOVING AHEAD QUICKLY WITH
THE PROGRAM... IN ANTICIPATION OF
"SELF-EXTINGUISHING" CIGARETTE BATTLES IN AT
LEAST 13 STATES NEXT YEAR.
LET ME REPORT ON OUR PROGRESS...
WE HAVE GIVEN ALL OF OUR LOBBYISTS A
THOROUGH REVIEW OF THE ISSUE... AND A CHANCE
?O EXAMINEOUR PROPOSED PROGRAM. THEIR
REACTION WAS ENTHUSIASTIC.
