British American Tobacco

BAT and Front Groups

The tobacco industry has a long history of using PR techniques to avoid regulation and undermine opposition. By looking at just one company - British American Tobacco (BAT) and its involvement in funding front groups the huge extent of this manipulation is evident. Tobacco companies have used front groups for decades, often working in co-operation with each other in order to maximise results. In 1998, as a result of litigation, tobacco companies were required to open up their records for public access, this has allowed researchers to uncover information on the inner workings of the tobacco industry. With the use of these documents several instances of BAT funded front groups have been found, showing the lengths to which the industry is willing to go to protect its interests.

Front groups have been used for a variety of purposes, one particularly important aspect being the health implications of tobacco. ARISE (Associates for Research into the Science of Enjoyment) is one group concerned with such issues. The group describe themselves as an ‘apolitical affiliation of independent scientists and academics’ which conduct research into some of life’s pleasures including chocolate, tea, coffee, alcohol and tobacco. Their research concludes that partaking in such pleasurable experiences can be beneficial to health and lowers stress, going so far as to claim ‘higher resistance to cancer and less risk of damage to the stomach and heart’. These statements are in direct opposition to other medical studies into the consequences of tobacco use which have proven the negative impact on health. ARISE follows up their claims with criticism of such health information initiatives, arguing that the so called ‘health police’ ‘could be causing more harm than good’ (Monbiot). Furthermore, Professor David Warburton of the University of Reading, one of the leaders of the group, published a number of articles in academic journals which questioned findings regarding the addictive qualities of nicotine. Warburton also wrote of his contempt for ‘health scares’ which he claimed were often ill founded and could cause more harm than good because of the guilt and stress they cause could cause of health problems in itself. (Monbiot). The danger of such a group is the widespread coverage it received and the fact that the public were mislead into believing research was based on independent medical inquiry. In an article published in the Guardian George Monbiot found that between September 1993 and March 1994 the group generated 195 newspaper articles, radio and television interviews. Taking just one example of such coverage, the December 22, 1996 issue of the Times includes the article ‘Eat, drink and be merry!’ which discusses the research findings of ARISE. The article included a quote from Warburton saying ‘a few puffs on a cigarette’ was proven to make people happier and thus improve their health. However the same article also states that although the group admit to receiving funding from the alcohol and chocolate industries they ‘stop short of taking money from the tobacco industry’. This claim from ARISE is proven to be false by the internal documents of the BAT company.

Monbiot writes of his discovery of documents which prove the involvement of tobacco companies including Philip Morris, BAT and Rothmans in the funding of the group. Documents relating specifically to the contributions from BAT are also to be found. One example being a letter dated September 1991 from Professor Warburton giving an invoice to BAT for their donation of £13.000 to fund a group meeting in Venice. Bates number:300561846-300561847 http://bat.library.ucsf.edu/tid/maa35a99 Another way in which front groups are used is as a weapon against regulation on the premise that many countries economies are dependent upon tobacco production. ITGA (the International Tobacco Growers Association) was supported by BAT (ASH) with the aim of promoting the economic benefits of tobacco growing. In this extract from a BAT document written by Shabanji Opukah, BAT’s corporate social responsibility manager, it is clear that ITGA is being used to avoid regulation on the industry with specific reference to the World Health Organisation’s Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI). There is also declaration of the intent to undermine a study by the World Bank which argued that ‘the negative effects of tobacco control on employment have been greatly overstated’ (ASH) a claim that ITGA is used to deny.

‘our efforts to ensure we get the most from our investment in ITGA is paying back. ITGA agreed to dedicate themselves to a number of core big areas of concern TFI and the issue of economic impact…Objective is to rebut the world bank study and get third world governments on our side on the issue’ Bates number:321357061 http://bat.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vas03a99

It has now been uncovered that ITGA was funded by BAT, an internal company memo from Simon Milson, the international government affairs manager, details three payments of over £8,000 given to the group in 1999, making a total of over £24, 000 for that year. Despite this funding great efforts were made to ensure the association was seen to be independent. In another memo Milson stresses the ‘need to remember that this is an ITGA/ farmers initiative and they should be doing the writing to governments’ (ASH) referring to the tactic of using ITGA to encourage farmers to lobby governments on the importance of tobacco growing to the economy. BAT uses this method of using third world tobacco growers as a front because they are seen to have the ‘moral high ground’ (ASH) and more credibility than industry insiders.

Another angle in which front groups are used is to stimulate public support of relaxed smoking restrictions. FOREST the Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco describes itself as ‘a media and political lobbying group that defends the interests of smokers’ In a report on smoking in public places which was submitted to the GLA (Greater London Authority) the group argue that passive smoking is not a significant risk to the health of non- smokers (ASH). It is also argued that restrictions on smoking in public spaces is detrimental to business, especially the restaurant and pub sectors. The group admit that they accept ‘donations’ from tobacco companies but claim that they do not promote smoking or speak on behalf of or in defence of the tobacco industry.. Using the term ‘donation’ to describe the input of the tobacco industry gives a false impression as in 2000 the group received 96% of their funding from this source. Despite the fact the group are apparently open about their funding the organisation is still misleading as it positions itself as representative of ordinary smokers but is in fact highly influenced by the industry This idea is summed up entirely in a BAT document sent to Nick Brookes, the director of the America Pacific region for the company, in February 1981, in which shows the company wished to use FOREST as:

‘a consumer pressure group funded by the industry. There would be no attempt to conceal the funding but equally there would be no suggestion that FOREST were anything other than an independent consumer pressure group’ Bates number:303695993 http://bat.library.ucsf.edu/tid/mqs55a99

This approach is not much different than those front groups which hide their true sponsorship. Although FOREST admits to industry funding they can still mislead the public by appearing to be a consumer led group. This is obviously the intention of the tobacco companies who wish to make it appear as though they have widespread consumer support. Although undoubtedly many people agree with relaxed smoking legislation groups such as FOREST exaggerate this support and so obscure the true facts about the issue. Groups such as FOREST are often used to publicise opposition to smoking bans in public spaces. One such example is in the Scottish edition of the Daily Star, March 25, 2006: ‘Smokers urged to fight the ban’ in which FOREST spokesmen Neil Rafferty says ‘The claims about passive smoking are a calculated deception by anti-smoking groups to scare the population and manipulate weak-minded politicians.’ The article goes on to urge smokers to resist the Scottish smoking ban which is positioned as an infringement of their rights. Although this can be seen as an expression of the opinions of smokers it is also an important tactic used by the tobacco industry which stands to lose vast amounts of revenue if such smoking bans are implemented. In 1993 Philip Morris highlighted the threat from restrictions on smoking when it said: ‘[The] Financial impact of smoking bans will be tremendous.’

Front Groups can also be used which appear to represent the hospitality industry but are in fact just another tobacco industry PR exercise. Stan Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California wrote an article looking at tobacco industry funding of the hospitality industry (http://www.prwatch.org/node/1221) which appeared in the June issue of Tobacco Control, a specialist publication of the British Medical Journal. Glantz used internal industry documents to prove that tobacco manufacturers gave donations to more than 65 hospitality groups in the USA alone. He writes that:

‘tobacco companies made financial contributions to existing hospitality associations or, when it did not find an association willing to work for tobacco interests, created its own 'association' in order to prevent the growth of smoke-free environments. ... Through the myth of lost profits, the tobacco industry has fooled the hospitality industry… in reality 100% smoke-free laws have been shown to have no effect on business revenues, or even to improve them. The tobacco industry has effectively turned the hospitality industry into its de facto lobbying arm on clean indoor air." (http://tc.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/11/2/94)

There are countless groups which represent hospitality interests, many of which reflect genuine fears within the industry about the possible effect on profits a smoking ban may have. There are also groups which have received funding from the tobacco industry and some which have been entirely invented which play on the fears of business owners by claiming that smoking restrictions lead to significant losses of profit.

As the British American Tobacco Company is the second largest tobacco company, behind Phillip Morris (http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2002Q4/bat.html), advertising is key in its success. The British American Tobacco Company, otherwise known as BAT, is recognized worldwide through its cigarette brands, which include Benson and Hedges and Dunhill (www.ameinfo.com/49811.html). BAT has sold hundreds of millions of cigarettes worldwide, and this is widely related to its extensive advertising and PR campaigns. In many countries throughout the world, restrictions have been imposed on the advertising of tobacco products (http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/qofm/0201a.html), and this has resulted in BAT struggling to maintain awareness of their products. In 1971, the advertising of cigarettes was banned from television due to the belief it encouraged people to smoke, and disregarded the health problems related to it. South Africa is a country that has been seen to be at the forefront of the cigarette advertisement ban. In 1993, the first legislation with regards to tobacco laws was passed. This was known as the Tobacco Control Act, and it resulted in cigarette packaging and other forms of tobacco advertising needing to display health warnings as well as smoking in public places being controlled and the prohibition of selling tobacco products to those under sixteen years old. Following this Act, South Africa introduced the Tobacco Control Amendment Act in 1999, and when it came into effect in October 2000, a “new era of public health” was well received by its population (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html). Although tobacco advertising was no longer permitted on television when these Acts came into effect, companies such as BAT had to find alternative methods in reaching the public. They did this through the use of the radio, but after a while, free air time was allocated to put out warnings about the danger of tobacco to people’s health. This consequently led to the public calling for tougher regulations on the issue and the law was revised in their favour, resulting in a complete ban of tobacco advertising (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html). As this advertising ban meant that the British American Tobacco company could no longer reach the South African public through these popular mediums, it meant they had to raise awareness of their products in another way. Cleverly, they devised the idea of a competition with a cash prize or a trip on the “first commercial spaceship, redeemable within the next two years” after the competition. Those who entered the competition had to give their names, which were entered into BAT’s database, and used in the future for promotional purposes (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html). Advertising costs are high, and for companies including BAT, this is why it is vital that they are as effective as possible. The British American Tobacco Company, like many other international corporations, relies heavily on support from the government. The Director of BAT is Ken Clarke, who was formerly the Health Secretary for the Conservative Party (www.ash.org.uk/html/press/050428.html) and it with the aid of the government that the tobacco industry continues to thrive. As the dangers of tobacco are widely known, the government could put a complete ban on the products, but as they benefit financially from them, this is unlikely to happen. In Britain, it was not until 1991 that a complete tobacco advertisement ban was issued with regard to the television, but non television advertisements were continually allowed until in 1997, the Labour Government promised to introduce a complete ban of the promotion of the products. The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 was the result of this promise (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020036.html). Exceptions allowed under this Act are those advertisements that are not aimed at specific kinds of people within the British population and advertisements within shops, pubs or clubs that promote the products on an area no larger than A5 paper and that include government and health warnings on at least thirty percent of it (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4113297.stm). Before the 2002 Act was passed, it was claimed that in order to get around the advertising ban on television, and later on radio, the British American Tobacco Company engaged in direct marketing tactics. This meant that products such as cigarettes were handed out to individuals in order to raise awareness of their particular brands, and this is still found to occur in British society today. BAT have often been criticised for not only underplaying the health dangers linked to their products, but also for targeting specific areas of the population, especially young people. BAT dispute this idea, and argue that their aim is not to do this but rather their company is about “offering quality brands to adults who have already taken the decision to smoke” (www.bat.com). In gaining support of the government for tobacco products, it has been recognized that the British American Tobacco Company have funded political campaigns. Studies have shown that in 2004, in the run up to the election, almost $3 million was spent on candidates in the U.S. election and in this, George Bush received $168, 145, in comparison to $21, 050 received by his opponent John Kerry (www.guardian.co.uk/weblog/special/0,10672,540943,00.html). The idea behind this funding of political campaigns is that when someone is elected, they will perhaps mention where they received money, which would in turn lead to a degree of recognition from the public, but also, there is the belief amongst tobacco companies, including BAT, that as they have aided political figures gain power, they will help them in return by supporting their products. Abrie du Plessis, a spokesperson for BAT, explains why the company funds various aspects within politics and in doing so, raises awareness of their products. He claims, “We want to have a constructive relationship with government. It’s almost as if the culture of smoking is being blamed on corporations, as if smoking is a phenomenon created by multinationals and perpetuated by advertising. We don’t believe this, because before multinationals, people smoked” (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html). Sponsorship of sport is yet another way in which the British American Tobacco Company avoids the restrictions on advertising, and is connected largely to the sponsorship of Formula 1 Racing (www.bjm.bjmjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7457/104). When BAT initially became involved in Formula 1 in 1970, they sponsored Yardley, who were with the BRM team, but as time progressed, they became involved with other teams and this continued until 1974, when they no longer involved themselves in the sponsorship of the sport (www.grandprix.com/gpe/spon-028.html). After a period of time away from Formula 1, BAT returned to it in 1983 in order to continue with the promotion of their company and its products. BAT’s sponsorship of this masculine orientated sport is a means of targeting young men and boys and raising their awareness of the tobacco industry, and in doing this, it reaches them in an effective manner (www.bjm.bjmjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7457/104). Through the extent of the media coverage Formula 1 receives, the British American Tobacco Company has become recognizable on a global scale, and also as a result of their sponsorship, the company was able to reach all age groups in society through their merchandising of a range of Formula 1 related products, which bore the BAT logo. As a result of the continuing regulations and restrictions imposed upon the tobacco industry, BAT, along with two other leading international tobacco companies, Phillip Morris and JT International, joined forces in 2001 in order to tackle what they regarded as a constraint. They worked alongside the International Marketing Standards and together, aimed to meet these standards set and “build on existing principles” (www.bat.com). As previously mentioned, these companies are frequently criticised for targeting specific groups, especially young people, through advertising and other forms of marketing they engage in, but the British American Tobacco Company opposes this idea and argues that through working with the International Marketing Standards, they are trying to combat this belief (www.bat.com). In the light of health groups laying blame for a number of illnesses and diseases on the tobacco industry, BAT has tried to overcome many of the negative beliefs associated with them. In doing so, BAT’s official website demonstrates how they have been actively involved in campaigns in Europe and other areas such as Japan, which promote the idea that young people should not smoke (www.bat.com). In conjunction with Phillip Morris and JT International, BAT has spent $3.6 million on trying to overcome the belief that they target their products at young people. A large proportion of this money spent by the three international corporations was on an advertising campaign showing on MTV in thirty eight European countries between April and July 2001 (http://www.ash.org.uk/html/advspo/html/mtveurope.html). These ideas aimed to perpetuate the idea that in order to be ‘cool’ and popular amongst their peer group, it was not necessary for teenagers to smoke. Campaigns like the one transmitted on MTV, portray the idea that the British American Tobacco Company is a socially responsible company, but in reality, the company uses this idea of corporate social responsibility as a front, and through this, they conceal many of the known dangers from the public by claiming their products are “credible” and that dangers although exist, are in BAT’s view, over-exaggerated (www.bat.com). As can be seen through the various advertising and promotional methods used by the British American Tobacco Company, the awareness of their products, as well as their success, is largely reliant upon this. Due to numerous regulations that have been imposed worldwide restricting the advertising of tobacco products, BAT have had to devise other methods, such as sponsorship and competitions, and it is through these alternative forms of advertising that they maintain their international success.