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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
3074.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - 10:48 AM

Abstract #120997

Motivations behind the Philip Morris Corporate Social Responsibility Program

Mitchell Zeller, JD, Pinney Associates, 3 Bethesda Metro Center, Suite 1400, Bethesda, MD 20814, 301-718-8440, mzeller@pinneyassociates.com

Like many large companies, Philip Morris has had a charitable giving and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program in place for many years. What are some of the motivations behind the creation and funding for these efforts? How does charitable giving and CSR relate to other external efforts by Philip Morris? The publicly available internal Philip Morris documents provide insights into the answers to these important questions. A review of the internal documents reveals that charitable giving and CSR are part of a broader and systematic effort by Philip Morris to re-shape public perception of the company. In their own words, the documents make clear that Philip Morris' reputation had plummeted in the early 1990's. A calculated effort to reverse that trend was undertaken, with simultaneous programs dedicated to youth smoking prevention, charitable giving, CSR, harm reduction, and support of tobacco product regulation. This presentation will review the relevant internal Philip Morris documents that describe the motivations behind the charitable giving and CSR programs.

Learning Objectives:

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Is the Tobacco Industry Giving Social Responsibility a Bad Name?

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA