Operation Downunder European counterpart

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

Operation Downunder European Counterpart was the European extension of Philip Morris' Operation Downunder strategy into Europe circa 1988. According to a 3-page description of the project, the plan's "strategic objective" was to "go beyond the establishment of a controversy concerning an alleged ETS Environmental Tobacco Smoke health risk but to disperse the suspicion of risk."

To dissuade people from the belief that secondhand tobacco smoke causes a health risk, PM used a two-pronged plan utilizing its Corporate Affairs department and its Science & Technology (S&T) department. The S&T Department was in charge of generating research and data to support the claim that secondhand smoke was not harmful to health. PM funded its S&T department at the rate of $2.5 million Swiss Francs per year to meet this objective.[1]

The Corporate Affairs department was in charge of implementing PM's Big Chill strategy with the media. <tdo>search_term=Operation Downunder</tdo>