Philip Morris 4 Point Plan to Dupe the Public! Part 2

By Attila Honey

I took a day off to drive Connie to the doctor. She hacked after every drag she took – all the way there and back. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Connie and I are childhood friends with zip in common. She is a real life dumb blond with a heart of gold and loyal to the max – two attributes I put a high premium on.

Connie has a wicked chest cough which I attribute to smoking – yet I cannot make her see the danger that lies before her if she continues. She believes the advertising on television in which Philip Morris targets simple folk like Connie in their “warm and fuzzy” advertising as mentioned below. She loves her pink rhinestone studded cigarette holder and the cigarettes that have become an addiction and affecting her health.

While waiting for her in the doctor’s office, I reviewed some data that I recently received. The “so called brain” behind PM’s push to destroy any anti smoking group, whose opinions and publicity cut into their market share, is Joshua Slavitt who handled the “It’s the Law” program for Philip Morris and is current Director of Policy and Programs. I suspect the detailed 4 strategy plan has his invisible signature on it as well. In any case, it’s something the public should be made aware of. Sadly, it won’t make a dent with people like Connie.

This is the 4-part Plan spelled out for all their employees in government as well as in corporate affairs. This is the stuff spy films are made of. It’s such tedious reading that I’m only going to just touch upon the highlights:

Get the Goods on the Anti Tobacco Groups

. Analyze their potential vulnerabilities and ours as a result of their activities ( unsaid: so we can cut them off at the kneecaps!) The information that we gather will be warehoused in a database which we call Common Ground. Competitive intelligence on the anti tobacco groups is integral to our plan because it enables us to prioritize our near-term and longer-term strategies. (Can’t you see a new movie called “Common Ground”) This intelligence also gives us the opportunity to develop proactive and offensive responses to the ATI – this is critical to our ability to put them on the defensive as we restore balance in the debate over our issues.

Limit Funding

….Limit or redirecting federal and state funding….but only those acceptable to us, ie. youth education, public advertising campaigns, preventing youth access. ( note the cleverness here. They don’t care if the rest of us die of lung cancer but they are mindful of the public perception of children smoking)

Weaken the Anti Tobacco Groups

.…Our primary focus will be on legislators, but we’ll also have to generate media stories in order to reinforce this message. (The remark about “legislators” is disturbing because it makes you wonder how many of our elected officials are paid off by Big Tobacco…ditto the fabricated “media stories“.

Put the Anti Tobacco Groups on the Defensive

Enhance internal conflicts and cause division in the leadership (Get them to just kill each other and be done with it)

Divide Ranks

We want to see a measurable increase in the number of legislators at the federal, state and local levels who publicly endorse our Federal initiative. This effort will cause further dissension between those anti tobacco groups that seek prohibition at any cost and those who are truly concerned about achieving reasonable solutions. We also want to enhance internal conflicts that already exist within the ATI (anti tobacco) and then possibly encourage some new ones. (The public should take a good look at the first sentence. Big Tobacco is funding candidates that will do their bidding if elected)

You know after reviewing the above from Philip Morris, I need a mouth wash…particularly in view of the fact that Connie’s doctor has referred her to a specialist as he suspects she might have lung cancer. Undeterred, Connie lit up in the car, coughing in between drags and chattering about going home, touching up her hair and making her mini bunt cakes.

Sometimes I wonder how God looks upon all of this – the insatiable greed of man who has long since forgotten that he belongs to the “family of man”.