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Brainstorming for a Full Page Newspaper Ad

Participants at a 1993 Philip Morris (PM) meeting were asked to brainstorm about a headline to be used in a PM-paid, full-page "advertorial" to be placed in a major European newspaper. The document contains ideas from that brainstorming session. Ideas floated by PM employees include ridiculing the idea that people have a right to clean air, and threatening society by saying that "if we shut off smoking as a pressure release, stress will build and be released in a more destructive manner than smoking. (Use specific examples like the smoker who punched a flight attendant.)" Other ideas for the headline included:

• "Life Causes Death! (Explain how lifestyles differ, the importance of lifestyle freedom and diversity, and the relation between lifestyle and risk...)"

• "The Greatest Myth of the Century: Passive smoking is a major (public health) problem. (Explain why passive smoking is not a major problem. Describe how and why activists have turned it into a giant Pink Elephant. Explain in detail how all the attention and resources dedicated to ETS/smoking distracts from more pressing political 'real life' problems ...)"

• "Smokers outside: Are smokers drug addicts? ... Explain clearly the differences between smokers an drug addicts as to ridicule the comparison ... Focus on the increasingly common phenomenon of having to smoke outside ..."

• "Is American Intolerance/Puritanism coming to Europe?"

• "Do non-smokers have the right to 'smoke-free air'? (One of the claims often made is that N-S [non-smokers] have the right to 'smoke-free' or 'clean' air ... Develop arguments that show flawed logic, i.e., if we accept the anti's premise, then all cars should be banned also..."

• "If stop smoking, the Stress Will Kill You! (Develop and support the argument that anti-smoking scare tactics lead to increased stress because of smoker harassment/discrimination which turns out to be a worse problem. Society needs its pressure-release valves and if we shut off smoking as a pressure release, stress will build and be released in a more destructive manner than smoking. Use specific examples like the smoker who punched a flight attendant.)"

The document also states "we must position [the antis] as extreme and unreasonable," and proposes ways PM could do this:

• "Anti-smoking has become a profit business in its own industry."
• "Expose anti links to pharmaceutical/WHO [World Health Organization], Mormons, bureaucrats, public health officials, other ...
• "Develop arguments through research on antis and Intolerance, Zeal and Puritanism ..."

To see the document for yourself, click here