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The purpose of the Institute was to defeat legislation unfavorable to the tobacco industry, put a positive spin on the industry, bolster the industry's credibility with legislators and the public and help maintain the controversy over "the primary issue" (the health issue).  An 8-page "Status Report and Update" from the Institute dated 1976 describes the function of the Institute with relation to its member companies [from Page 3]: <blockquote>...the Institute acts as official spokesman for the industry, always reflecting official [strategy] position agreed upon by all members.</blockquote> The report summarizes the disinformation campaign conducted by the Institute on behalf of the American cigarette manufacturers [from Page 6]: <blockquote>In summation, then, the basic [[public relations]] strategy of American manufacturers responding to the smoking and health controversy is funneled through the Tobacco Institute and concentrates on the following techniques and practices:<br> (1) Publicizing scientific research funded by the industry which produces counter evidence to unfavorable findings or, at least, helps to keep the question open,<br><br>(2) Conducting public information campaigns against the claims of anti-cigarette groups and individuals...<br><ref>Tobacco Institute [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/agu91f00 STATUS REPORT AND UPDATE PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY OF U.S. TOBACCO MANUFACTURERS RE SMOKING & HEALTH CONTROVERSY] Report. May 1, 1976. 8 pp. Bates No. May 1, 1976</ref></blockquote> Thus, while today the [[tobacco industry]] defends itself by holding out that "everyone knew" about the dangers of smoking, in 1976 they were employing a broad range of public relations tactics to keep citizens of the U.S. from concluding that smoking was, in fact, dangerous. (The above document was used by the state of Oklahoma in its lawsuit against the tobacco industry in 1997.) In 1988 Tobacco Institute President [[Samuel D. Chilcote, Jr.]], in a briefing for the Institute Chairman about progress the Institute was making against the anti-tobacco movement at that time, stated that the "primary mission [of the Tobacco Institute] is to defeat legislation." The Institute was highly effective at defeating legislation. Chilcote stated that between 1979 and 1987 the industry faced 583 bills of concern to the industry nationwide, and defeated or postponed 93% of them. [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/grs62f00]