Daily Doc: PM, Dec 4, 1982: Monumental industry addiction blooper
Daily Doc: Monumental industry addiction blooper
Title: High Customer Traffic Built on Cigarettes
PM, Dec 4, 1982
Bates #: 2501013568
September 22, 2000
In 1981 George Mackin, Director of Sales for Philip Morris, United Kingdom gave a presentation to the Retail Confectioners' and Tobacconists Association in Majorca. An article based on his speech was subesquently published in the trade journal Confectioners, Tobacconist Newsagent on December 4, 1981. In describing to retailers the value of selling cigarettes, George wrote:
"Cigarettes are not just habit forming -- the body builds up a requirement for them. Twenty million smokers cannot do without their weed. Take the example of a man going to work in the morning. It is pouring with rain. There are six cars already parked outside the shop. So there are at least 50 yards to walk back. Would he stop for a newspaper? Would he get wet for a kit kat?Frank Colby, Associate Director of Scientific Issues in the Research Department at R.J. Reynolds (RJR) was NOT amused, and on January 26,1982, fired off a note to Samuel B Witt III, Esquire at RJR which he entitled
Addicted
The answer is probably No, but he would stop for his fags, because he is addicted to cigarettes. And while buying a pack he takes a morning paper and a Kit Kat. With 20 million regular smokers in this country, there is an enormous traffic opportunity built up exclusively on tobacco -- and a lot of it could come your way."
"With Friends Like This, We NEED Enemies"Don Hoel of the tobacco industry law firm of Shook, Hardy and Bacon also wrote to Tana Wells of PM Europe (and copied the letter to Jules Hartogh, also of PM Europe) to express his concern:
(WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS, WE NEED ENEMIES - PART II. STATEMENT BY SALES DIRECTOR OF PHILIP MORRIS/GB. RJR Bates number 501626662, dated 19820126)
Dear Tana:Jules Hartog at PM Europe wrote back to Don Hoel saying that he had explained to Mackin's boss, Rob Hermans, that
I enclose herewith an article published in CTN dated December 4, 1981, authored by George Mackin who is identified as the Sales Director of Philip Morris for the U.K. This article was sent to us by one of our colleagues who questioned the two paragraphs I have "highlighted."
"this sort of mistake could create a lot of problems for us"and
"Rob promised that he will see to it that in future such unfortunate incidents will not happen again."
(http://my.tobaccodocuments.org/tdo/view.cfm?CitID=2297548&GetListArrayIdx= )
CITATION
Title: High Customer Traffic Built on Cigarettes
Type of Document: Published article
Author: Mackin, G (Philip Morris)
Recipient: N/A
Date: 19821204
Site: Philip Morris document site: http://www.pmdocs.com/
Bates No. 2501013568
URL: (best viewed on TobaccoDocuments.org, for ease of enlarging, as the copy is very poor) http://my.tobaccodocuments.org/tdo/view.cfm?CitID=2106896&GetListArrayIdx=12&ShowImages=yes
Litigation Usage: None yet!
THANKS TO: Simon Chapman of Australia for uncovering this series of documents!
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