531 



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Th« Uf t«b*eoo coapanios w*r« also a««ply concerned. Thmy 

 b«li«v«<J tfi«c« two reports cvuld actually destroy th« industry . 

 On Dv%;«ati«r 15th 19S3 they dvcidad to bald a council of v«r AC 

 tha Plasi Hot«l in Kow YorK. 



It W43 th« first tia« rninc^ i>39 thit t>5« ceo'« ot all tn« aajor 

 U* tob*coo companies Qad n«t together. Also preswit was John 

 Mill# th€ ch«irs»*n of Hill Knowlton - tho bi9<je*t and no^t 

 influential PR coapany in th» world. 



PajlorojM has obtained the «inutee of thi« oirtraordinAry m»«tin9. 

 The industry wimt»d to fi^t up a new t)Ody called Lb« "Tobacco 

 Tndustry Coaaitte« for Public Lnforaation" which would coabat the 

 bad presa eaus -d by the ecientific reporti?. 



Jotui Mill arqueU this was an insufficient recpcQ£« and sugtja^ted 

 a twin tracX ctrat«^y of r*seirch and PR. He also suq^esteU 

 naming the new body the "Tcrtiacco industry Research Conadttee" 

 vhiwh, be believed, would cound »ere credible to the public. 



After such dlscxission the indoBtry exeoutivec a^eed utd on 

 January 7th 1954 the newly foro^d Tobacco Industry fi«fie*rct 

 Coanittee placA<i full paije adverts in 254 i>««spaper« across the 

 country. 



The advarts ver« &ead*d "a PranX stateaent To cigarette Smeker«». 

 T^ey said the industry accepted "an interoet in people's Qealth 

 ao a bacic responfiihility. paramount td «verv other consideration 

 in our business" and concluded by pledging "aid and a«ei»tanee 

 into siBokinf and health". 



Tni» was seen a;* « brilliant strote^ which ^honourably' coahln^d 

 short ter» PR expediency with wort&wlule long tern r«t>e^xb 

 goals. But Ken wamer, a HiUiigan professor who hac presented 

 €xp«rt te»tiBony in this ore*, believes It was a totally cynical 

 manoeuvre. He says thA industry w«rt only interested in PR and 

 had DO intention of conOucting any open and honest research into 

 ^/nuking and he«lth. 



Panoraaa has obtained a 19C2 TlRC »ci«o which supports wamAr's 

 view. 



"The 19*4 emergency was handled effectivaly. rro« this 



experience there arose a realisation by the tobavco industry of 

 a public relations problwa that aust b« solved for the self- 

 preservation of th« industry. Historically it would »ee» the 

 TIRC prograaae has carried its fair share of the PR lood in 

 providing Mterials to staap out bruch fir*s as they ro«e". 



