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[edit] Criticisms

[edit] Extremely Unethical Business Practice

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The following facts have been reprinted from TheTruth.com

• About 1 out of every 5 deaths in the US can be attributed to tobacco products.

• Every eight seconds, someone in the world dies due to tobacco.

• In 1999, one year after agreeing to stop billboard advertising, tobacco companies increased advertising spending by 33 percent in magazines with more than 15 percent youth readership.

• In 1990, 72 million bottles of a popular mineral water were voluntarily recalled because of small traces of benzene. The smoke from one pack of unfiltered cigarettes has as much benzene as 169 bottles of the contaminated water.

• How do infants avoid secondhand smoke? "At some point they begin to crawl." -- Tobacco Executive 1996

• In as little as 2 weeks nicotine changes the brains chemistry and addiction can begin.

• In 2001, tobacco companies spent about $11 billion marketing their products. That's about $1.5 billion more than the year before.

• In 1990, a tobacco company put together a plan to stop Coroners from listing tobacco as a cause of death on a death certificate.

• Cigarette smoke contains 69 chemical compounds that are known cause cancer.

• 1 out of 3 smokers are estimated to eventually die from a tobacco-related disease.

• Over 50,000 people a year die from secondhand smoke in the US alone.

• Cigarette smoke contains the radioactive isotope Polonium-210.

• In 1989, millions of cases of imported fruit were banned after a small amount of cyanide was found in just two grapes. There's thirty-three times more cyanide in a single cigarette than was found in those two grapes.

• An internal tobacco company marketing report from 1989 said quote "We believe that most of the strong, positive images for cigarettes and smoking are created by cinema and television."

• In the mid 90's, a major tobacco company planned on boosting sales of their cigarettes by targeting a new consumer market: gays and homeless people. They called their plan Project Sub-Culture Urban Marketing. Also known as Project SCUM.

• Cigarettes will eventually kill a third of the people who use them.

• Tobacco signage is often placed at a child's eye level.

• One tobacco company developed a genetically altered tobacco with twice the addictive nicotine of regular tobacco. They code-named it "Y-1."

• In 1984, one tobacco company referred to new customers as "replacement smokers."

• Over 80 percent of all adult smokers started smoking before they turned 18.

• Tobacco companies make $1.8 billion from under age sales.

• Urine contains urea. Some tobacco companies add urea to cigarettes.

• Tobacco companies make a product that kills 440,000 Americans a year.

• Tobacco companies make a product that kills 1,200 Americans a day.

• 2,000 teens start smoking everyday.

• Tobacco companies make a product that kills about 50 Americans each hour.

• In the 1970s, tobacco companies started making light cigarettes by putting tiny holes in the filters to let extra air mix with the smoke. They found they could get low readings of toxic agents from FTC-type cigarette testing machines.

• 70 percent of smokers want to quit. Only about 5 percent actually succeed every year.

• In the 1980s, tobacco companies started working on making fire-safe cigarettes. Ones that would be less likely to ignite furniture or clothing and cause fires. As of 2002, only one of the hundreds of U.S. cigarette brands uses fire safe technology, and cigarettes are still the number one cause of fire-related deaths.

• In the US, smoking causes about 445 new cases of lung cancer every day.

• Tobacco kills more Americans than AIDS, drugs, homicides, fires, and auto accidents combined.

Legal Disputes:

• In July 2004 Altria agreed to pay more than $1 billion over a 12 year period to settle allegations that it colluded with smugglers. In February 2001, Belgium and Finland joined in on the civil action launched by the European Commission in the previous year against Philip Morris. The action claims that Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds are involved in cigarette smuggling operations in direct violation of the U.S. Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.

• In March 2003, an Illinois State Judge ordered Philip Morris USA to pay $10.1 billion for deceiving customers by advertising light cigarettes as less harmful than regular cigarettes. The company was ordered to post a $12 billion bond - the amount of the award plus interest - while Altria appeals the verdict. However, Altria 's Philip Morris USA division said it cannot provide the money to post the court-ordered bond needed to appeal the ruling. According to Standard & Poor's Philip Morris USA might have to consider bankruptcy as an option if the value of the bond cannot be cut to a manageable amount.

• A Miami jury told three tobacco companies to pay $37.5 million to a former three-pack-a-day smoker who lost his tongue to cancer. Part of the larger appeal of the statewide class action,this case represents an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 smokers,and has begun to enter appeals courts. In the Miami case, the jury found Philip Morris and Brown & Williamson were each 22.5 percent liable, meaning they would pay that much of the verdict. The jury found Liggett 50 percent liable. A previous jury in the class action had already ruled that cigarettes cause cancer and other diseases, and that the tobacco companies conspired to hide their addictive and deadly effects. Two years ago, that jury ordered the nation's five largest cigarette makers to pay the class $145 billion as punishment. As of June 2002, the tobacco companies were appealing that verdict.

• In 2004 the Justice Department said it would appeal a court decision barring it from pursuing $280 billion from tobacco companies in a civil racketeering lawsuit. The 2-1 decision from an appeals court dealt a major blow to the government's attempt to hold cigarette makers accountable for decades of alleged deceit about the dangers of smoking. The panel decided that the 1970 civil racketeering statute under which the government filed its case required forward-looking remedies, which did not include "disgorgement," or the pursuit of $280 billion the government claims the industry earned through fraudulent activities. Altria said in a statement that the company expects to show that many of the Justice Department's suggested remedies are "backward-looking. Moreover, the government's approach to this case continues to ignore the fundamental and irreversible changes that have occurred in the cigarette industry over the last decade," the company said.

• In October 2002, a jury awarded a woman suffering from terminal lung cancer $28 million in punitive damages from Philip Morris. The company pledged to ask a court to set aside or reduce the amount, and in September 2002 the same jury awarded the woman $750,000 in economic damages and $100,000 for pain and suffering after finding Philip Morris liable for fraud, negligence and product liability. The woman, who started smoking when she was 17 years old, blamed the Philip Morris for failing to warn her of the risks of smoking. The company denied those allegations and stated, "This jury should have focused on what the plaintiff knew about the health risks of smoking, and whether anything the company ever said or did improperly influenced her decision to smoke or not to quit."

Source: Associated Press, Oct. 4 & 5 2002, et al.

[edit] Excessive Political Influence & Harmful Litigation

[edit] Political Lobbying, Contributions & Conflicts of Interest

Lobbying 1998-2004*: $125,274,200
Lobbying 2003: $16,831,700

Since 1998, this company has hired 54 firms to lobby the federal government on its behalf. In 2003, the last full year for which data is available, it had 24 on retainer. It has employed 256 lobbyists itself or through a firm since 1998 (75 during 2003) of whom 74 formerly worked for Congress or the federal government.

• Special Corpwatch Report: Up In Smoke
  "Data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Common Cause, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, shows a political system still awash with tobacco dollars. And a closer look reveals that when it comes to buying political influence, Big Tobacco knows you don't always have to be out front to win."

• 8/4/03: NGOs Call on Gov't Officials to Ratify Global Tobacco Control Treaty: "Thousands of government officials, advocates representing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and public health experts are coming together this week for the 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, the first such gathering since the May 21 adoption of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)"

• 4/30/03: President Bush Tries to Weaken Tobacco Treaty: "As more than 160 nations prepare to sign a landmark treaty to control tobacco, the Bush administration is waging a last-ditch effort to gut the accord of its strongest provisions, including a worldwide ban on tobacco advertising."

• A study published in January 2001, which was commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the influence of Big Tobacco over policy-making in individual countries, found that Philip Morris and other tobacco companies successfully waged campaigns to undermine Swiss health measures. The report shows that in 1980, 37 percent of the Swiss population smoked, compared to 31 percent of the population in 1992. However, the number rose to 33 percent in 1997, with an increase in the number of women and adolescents who smoke--the study attributed this rise in successful marketing campaigns by tobacco companies. Philip Morris claims the argument is due to the company's past behavior but has since changed its ways. Source: AP Worldstream, January 11, 2001

[edit] Environmental Concerns

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• Sierra Club has launched a campaign against Genetically Engineered Foods, targeting KRAFT for its use of GE ingredients.

• Altria was named one of the "Top Ten Greenwashers" in 2003 by the Earthday Resources for Living Green. The company was cited for its use of nature photos in its advertising to create the image that Altria is committed to, among other things, protecting the environment. The report claims, however, that in actuality the company's products pose significant risks to public health and the environment. As parent company of Philip Morris and Kraft, Altria contributes to environmental degradation through the known impacts of tobacco and through the less known use by Kraft, of genetically engineered ingredients, according to Earthday Resources for Living Green. Source: Earthday Resources for Living Green

• Philip Morris was given CorpWatch's Winter Greenwash Award in 2001 for its "Working to Make a Difference" TV ad campaign. The commercials imply that Philip Morris has helped people out of struggles with corporate charity. The company was given the Greenwash Award for spending more on its corporate image advertising than on the humanitarian programs it had been boasting about. Source: CorpWatch, March 22, 2001

[edit] Human Rights Concerns

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• Global Unions, a consortium of international trade union organizations, has listed Philip Morris as a company involved with Burma. The group developed the list based on criteria that a company either operates in Burma, has business relations with the country, has been in direct contact with the officials of the regime or promotes tourism in the country. Source: Global Unions

[edit] Featured Articles

• 7/22/04: Judge Orders Philip Morris, Altria to Pay $2.75 Million: "The sanctions are for the deletion of e-mails that may be relevant to a suit against the industry."

• 9/30/03: Activists Raise Doubts About NYSE Chair: "As John Reed takes over as interim chair of the New York Stock Exchange, corporate accountability activists are voicing skepticism about the appointment... According to the corporate accountability organization Infact, Reeds ties with such abusive corporations as Citigroup and Philip Morris/Altria call into question the image of him that is being promoted."

• 4/03: In April 2003 Representative Henry Waxman called for an congressional investigation into the destruction, by Philip Morris, of key documents regarding the Justice Department's lawsuit against the tobacco industry. At issue are the e-mails of 11 employees that were deleted before the documents could be printed and filed. The company said it disclosed and stopped the e-mail deletions in 2002 to the satisfaction of the court. Philip Morris has turned over 27 million documents in the court case. Source: The Daily News of Los Angeles, Apr. 19, 2003

• 4/17/02: If Philip Morris Doesn't Want Kids to Smoke, Why is it Challenging Florida’s Successful Tobacco Prevention Program?: "Philip Morris’ attempt to pressure Florida to stop airing its highly successful “truth” anti-smoking advertisements exposes the company’s hypocrisy and duplicity in claiming that it does not want kids to smoke."

• 3/14/02: Philip Morris Changes its Name But Not Its Tactics: "After a multi-million dollar PR campaign touting their charitable work failed to improve their image, the executives at Philip Morris Companies have decided on a wholesale corporate makeover, centered around a name change to the lofty sounding Altria."

• 6/15/01: Mark Berlind, associate general counsel of Philip Morris, announced in June 2001 that Philip Morris has decided to support legislation that would give the FDA "meaningful, tough, and effective authority" over tobacco products. Critics assert that this concession by America's number-one selling tobacco company is not as magnanimous as it may seem. Further restrictions on advertising and distribution could give Philip Morris an advantage over smaller tobacco manufacturers, as the company's brands, such as Marlboro, are already well-known and well-established. Source: The Financial Times, June 15, 2001

• Multinational Monitor named Philip Morris as one of the "10 Worst Corporations of 2001." The magazine stated, "Public health experts agree the company's youth smoking prevention advertisements and programs are either worthless or harmful, because they portray smoking as an adult activity and thus make it more desirable to kids." The magazine claimed that Philip Morris continues to "bombard kids in the United States with cigarette ads." Source: Multinational Monitor

[edit] Praise for Altria Group, Inc.

[edit] Charitable Giving

• Philip Morris donated $10 million to a fund for victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade center and the Pentagon. Source: The New York Post, Sept. 23, 2001

[edit] Diversity

• Philip Morris has a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation. Source: Human Rights Campaign

• Philip Morris has signed the MacBride Principles, a non-discrimination code of conduct for companies doing business in Northern Ireland.

• Altria is ranked number one of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity by Diversity Inc. Their subsidiary Kraft Foods is ranked 10th. Source The Altria Group was also ranked in the top 10 for:
  • diversity recruitment and retention
  • supplier diversity
  • African-Americans
  • executive women
  • Asian Americans

[edit] Health and Safety

• Philip Morris is a member of the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence. The company operates the Philip Morris Campaign against Domestic Violence, which provides resources for funding of direct service programs, public awareness initiatives and employee volunteerism efforts in all 50 states. The companies have a program where booklets containing important information about domestic violence and how and where to obtain help are placed in Philip Morris, Kraft Foods and Miller Brewing Company offices and facilities throughout the United States. The company also operates a "Doors of Hope" program that gives away large sums of money to expand and enhance domestic violence initiatives in communities across the United States where Philip Morris has a strong business presence. Source: Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence

[edit] External Links / Organizations

• Philip Morris Document Site: The site provides the public with access to documents produced by Philip Morris after October 23, 1998 through June 2010 related to smoking and health actions. The site also posts contents of its Advertising Archive featuring 50,000+ color images including print ads, outdoor ads and direct marketing pieces.]]

• Tobacco Free Kids

• The Truth.com

[edit] Brands & Subsidiaries

• Philip Morris USA (cigarettes) - Alpine, Basic, Benson & Hedges, Bristol, Cambridge, Chesterfield, Commander, Dave's, English Ovals, L&M, Lark, Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Players, Saratoga, Virginia Slims
• U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company - Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, Husky
• John Middleton (cigars and pipe tobacco) - Black & Mild, Prince Albert, Carter Hall, Middleton's, Kentucky Club
• Ste. Michelle Wine Estates[1]
• John Middleton, Philip Morris Capital Corporation, Philip Morris USA