251 



Th«st fllMTts rtflect the fact that the health claims presented In low 

 yield cigirttte proaotlons and advertising have convinced the public that 

 these brands are healthier. 



8. CIGARETTE MARKETING STRATEGY AND HEALTH CLAIMS 



The tobacco industry has employed a long-standing public relations and 

 marketing strategy to dispel r.o'cern In consumers' minds Jt^ut the 

 adverse health effects of siroking and to coiivlnce smoker- fhat advertised 

 brands are safe to smoke, kuferences t»- uhe industry's public relations 

 and advertising strategies ^.-..^ ih4de by Jcl B. Cohen, d1i£Ctor of tht 

 Center for Consumer Research at the University of Florida, in recent 

 testimony In the Rose 0. Cipollone smoker-death lawsuit, according to 

 accounts in the Washington Post . Cohen, an expert on consumer behavior, 

 testified on March 10, 1988 that the cigarette Industry has denied the 

 public: 



"an adequate understanding of the health>consequences of smoking* 

 and that "for most smokers, the public relations and ad campaigns 

 effectively nullified warnings that smoking could cause lung 

 cancer." * 



The industry's public relations efforts ln response to negative publicity 

 about th« hMlth effects of smoking included the creation three decades 

 ago of tht Totacco Industry Research Comittee (TIRC). According to the 

 Post , this action was taken in response to what the Industry viewed as a 

 a public relations "crisis" created in 1953 by researcher "Ernest L. 

 Hynder's widely publicized finding that mice developed skin cancer when 

 painted with tars condensed from cigarette smoke." 



