Public Relations Activities of TIRC/CTR

¶79. In December 1953, Timothy Hartnett, President of B&W, summarized the crisis of the industry in the following terms:

But cancer research, while certainly getting our support, can be only half an answer. . . . The other side of the coin is public relations . . . [which] is basically a selling tool and the most astute selling may well be needed to get the industry out of this hole. . . . It isn't exaggeration that no public relations expert has ever been handed so real and yet so delicate a multi-million dollar problem. . . . Finally, one of the roughest hurdles which must be anticipated is how to handle significantly negative research results, if, as, and when they develop.

¶1005039779-9783 (US 20190); Brandt WD, 55:22-56:11.

¶80. From the outset, the dual functions of TIRC -- public relations and scientific research -- were intertwined. Ernest Pepples, in an internal B&W letter dated April 4, 1978, acknowledged:

Originally, CTR was organized as a public relations effort. The industry told the world CTR would look at the diseases which were being associated with smoking. There was even a suggestion by our political spokesmen that if a harmful element turned up the industry would try to root it out.

¶680212421-2423 at 2422 (US 54024); 682338651-8653 (US 22899).

¶81. One name initially proposed for TIRC/CTR, the "Tobacco Industry Committee for Public Information," reflected its public relations purpose. However, John Hill of the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton expressed skepticism that a public relations strategy that simply argued that the harms of cigarette smoking were "unproven" would succeed. Such a campaign might appear self-interested in the face of the serious health concerns being raised. Brandt WD, 54:11-19. As a result, Hill suggested that the industry should sponsor new research and use

[t]he word "research" . . . in the name of the Committee to establish the fact that the group will carry on or sponsor fundamental scientific research and will not be solely an information agency.

¶TLT0900422-0430 at 0424 (US 88169); TLT0901541-1545 at 1542 (US 87225); TLT0901546-1549 (US 88191).

¶82. A white paper titled "A Scientific Perspective on the Cigarette Controversy" was one of the first public relations projects undertaken by Hill & Knowlton on behalf of its new client, TIRC. TLT0901688-1707 (US 88386). Hill & Knowlton/TIRC undertook the project because Defendants felt it necessary and urgent

to present to leaders of public opinion the fact that there was no unanimity among scientists regarding the charges against cigarettes.

¶TLT0902041-2064 at 2054 (US 88360). The twenty-page booklet consisted of published quotations from some three dozen scientists and researchers who denied that there was any proof that linked smoking and lung cancer or who questioned the validity of statistical methods and the conclusions drawn from recent laboratory experiments with mice. TLT0901688-1707 (US 88386); TLT0902041-2064 at 2054 (US 88360), (US 88364); CTRMN004924-4927 (US 21152).

¶83. 205,000 copies of "A Scientific Perspective on the Cigarette Controversy" were released on April 14, 1954. CTRMN004924-4927 (US 21152). The booklet was sent to 176,800 doctors, as well as to deans of medical and dental colleges. TLT0902954-2955 (US 88388). The booklet with a press release went to a press distribution of 15,000, including: editors of daily and weekly newspapers, consumer magazines, veterans magazines, and medical and dental journals; news syndicate managers; business editors; editorial and science writers; radio and television commentators; news columnists; and Members of Congress. Id.; CTR-TIRC-MIN000001-0252 at 0006, 0007, 0010 (JD 093292); TLT0900159-0161 (US 87720).

¶84. In the June 1954 "Public Relations Report and Recommendations for Tobacco Industry Research Committee," Hill & Knowlton described the success of its public relations efforts for TIRC:

Committee headquarters is steadily gaining recognition as a source of authoritative information on the subject of tobacco and health. The result is that news and magazine writers, columnists and commentators are turning to the Committee and its public relations counsel for more and more information.

¶TLT0901558-1563 at 1559 (US 88394); 514806129-6131 (US 20860).

¶85. Timothy Hartnett became the full-time chairman of TIRC on July 1, 1954, the day after his retirement as President of B&W, and continued to advance the Defendants' "open question" position in that role. In the press release generated by Hill & Knowlton announcing his appointment, Hartnett repeated the two commitments that TIRC had made in its Statement of Purpose and in its bylaws, i.e., (1) to carry on "comprehensive and objective scientific and statistical research to establish the facts," and (2) "report them to the public." After stating that the "tobacco industry is determined to find the answers to the public's questions about smoking and health," Hartnett continued:

It is an obligation of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee at this time to remind the public of [some] essential points: (1) There is no conclusive scientific proof of a link between smoking and cancer; (2) Medical research points to many possible causes of cancer; . . . (5) The millions of people who derive pleasure and satisfaction from smoking can be reassured that every scientific means will be used to get all the facts as soon as possible.

¶Brandt WD, 56:12-23; TLT0901831-1832 (US 88398).

¶86. Wilson Hoyt, who was initially a Hill & Knowlton employee with no scientific background whatsoever, held positions as TIRC/CTR Executive Secretary, Executive Director, Executive Vice President, and President in his three decades with TIRC/CTR. Brandt WD, 58:23- 59:2. In his 1955 administrative reports as TIRC Executive Secretary and Hill & Knowlton executive, Hoyt affirmed the intertwined functions of public relations and research in TIRC's program. In his April 1955 report, he wrote:

Essentially, the major purposes of the TIRC are Research and Public Relations. Our job is to maintain a balance between the two, and to continue to build soundly so that at all times Research and Public Relations complement each other. In that way we intend to assume the mantle of leadership and, ultimately, to create a condition where the public will look to the TIRC for answers rather than to others.

¶CTR-TIRC-MIN000033-0052 (US 33006); Brandt WD, 83:9-23. In his January 1955 report, he wrote, "Within this framework we have furthered and coordinated the two major purposes for which the Committee was organized namely, the public relations phase and the research program." CTR- TIRC-MIN000001-0252 at 0018-0032 (JD 093292); CTRMN003816-3835 at 3826 (US 21147).

¶87. Despite Defendants' assertion that TIRC/CTR was solely an organization that funded independent research for the purpose of finding answers to smoking and health question, it served to a great extent as an effective public relations tool and information conduit. In a July 1963 memorandum, Addison Yeaman, General Counsel for B&W, wrote:

The TIRC cannot, in my opinion, provide the vehicle for such research. It was conceived as a public relations gesture and (however undefiled the Scientific Advisory Board and its grants may be) it has functioned as a public relations operation.

¶689033412-3416 (US 22034); Brandt WD, 116:17-117:22; VXA2510190-0194 (US 63599); 2046754905-4909 (US 20477); Duffin PD, Cipollone v. Liggett, 1/23/86, 118:14-17.

¶88. Alexander Spears, Lorillard's Director of Research, in 1974 echoed the sentiments of Addison Yeaman when he explained:

Historically, the joint industry funded smoking and health research programs have not been selected against specific scientific goals, but rather for various purposes such as public relations, political relations, position for litigation, etc. Thus, it seems obvious that reviews of such programs for scientific relevance and merit in the smoking and health field are not likely to produce high ratings. In general, these programs have provided some buffer to the public and political attack of the industry, as well as background for litigious strategy.

¶01421596-1600 (US 20049); 83910516-0520 (US 55955); Brandt WD, 123:14-124:1.

¶89. In a 1975 speech to CTR members, Addison Yeaman gave his observations on the Council, noting, "It is my sober judgement that CTR, as it now operates is the greatest public relations asset you have in the problem of tobacco and health." 11303014-3020 at 3017 (US 86005) (emphasis in original). See Section III(D)(2), infra for more discussion of public relations activities.