PM History/2 - Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

PM history/4-1
chooses, but key pt is that it's the editor's right, not the govt's//
the 55 winning essayists got $81,000 in prizes, none of nearly 4,000
contestants said they entered for money . . .Smith adnits the essays are
"extremely one-sided
--THE PM MAGAZINE, feature by Wash Post Writers Group 7-27-88sMag is
now third largest in US behind TV Guide's 17 .2 million, Modern Maturity
w/15 .9 million, P-M has 11 .2//PM took its data base including many who
had written in to Marlboro Country Store promos for belt buckles & cig
lighters & bought lists from merchants who sold raffles & didn't know
what to do w/the lists of losers' names//pushing a recent Roper Poll-run
survey of its readership claiming trillion-dollar buying power by smkrs,
, says Guy Smith "The smoker is both a political & eco force who has 1__ arger
gone unreco ized~_~_~y ophTicians in us r eaders" . . .the mag is t~-e
besE a~P cou'Tbuy; sTicc-F, brig t, up ea . . .recent issue had exclusive
interview with Pres Ford which is characterized by comment "The first
thing you notice about Gerald Ford up close is how much he looks like
his pictures" + he has "no regrets" about his time in White House###*wow :/
Chas Kuralt, a smkr, appears often in the quarterly mag . . .summer issue
has feature by him featuring people jogging & canoeing & depicts lean,
healthy-looking people who probably feel about cigs "the way Phyllis
Sclafly feels about crack" + personality profile of 101yrold woman who
J"took occasional drink & smoked for many yrs"
--PM GOES FOR MERIT TASTE TEST, NAMING RIVAIS, WSJ 9-19-88 : Dbl-page
Merit ads uroclaim Merit rated as hi~ a1's or better than Winston Lights,
Salem Ligh~&-Tient . . .aces to natl ast~ e tes . .ning this to the Pepsi
Challenge, a bare-knuckled naming names come-on, aggressive for PM
--$11 .5 BILLION BID IS MADE FOR KRAFT BY PM/Stunning Merger Offer/
k, Takeover, 2nd Largest, Would Create World's Top Maker of Consumer Goods,
p1 ~ead story inNYT 10-18-88 :-Only the $13 .3 billion purchase of Gulf
~
by evr01 uld ~p il . . .would aul ast Unilever as to co er
oods co . . . . $90 share nrice is 50 . GREATER VALUE OF KRAFT
F HMaxwell says he phone Jo ic an yesterday afternoon r5/1 )
T who "told me of their wish to remain independent & that they are on the
record on that " . . .intention is to keep Kraft in Illinois . . .Wal1 St analysts
s/ say Kraft will have trouble finding a better deal : "'No n com anies
can__come u w 1 billion ; m no aware o ' sez Kidder Pea o y& Co .
ys . -o pu up a .o i n s own . . .trading has been hvy in
stock -for 4 mos/priceis 26X Kraft's EPS, PM insider calls it a r-
" comne bidld co.s wouecomearEes b 7th ltdstrorpin
inuxa~ c, ~
US . iust behind GEI-ViFS -page letter to Richman sez that while IT was
necessary for legal reasons to make a tender offer, "I want to emphasize
our stron desire to ne otiate an amic ble transaction, and I would like
to mee w you soon o d scuss our offer" by way o anticipation K h~
announced 2 wks earlier a much stronger poison-ill plan to make taeover
more~i~'I'icul~p ionally expensive even Ior abidder as determined
& well-£inanced as PM" :
iives d3.rectors ri ht to swa _
for stock itself when someone aequ res as llttle as 20% of the stock/
HM sez PM is "ver satisfied" w GF urc ase, PM has invested $1 .4 billion
iin it since buying it for .7 bi aon 3 yrs ago/Wall St M&A firm of
Wasserstein & Perella is advising PM///PM-KRAFT MERGER MAY LIMIT PRODUCT
INNOVATION, WSJ leader 10-20-88 : PM as masters of LINE EXTENSION w/Kol-
~iid ae classic examDle since GF was a en over, avai a e now in reg .,
extra-sweet, sugar-free, soon available as a frozen novelty, then being
readied as a ready-to-drink beverage & in testing now are Kool Shots, a
liquid concentrate version & Kool-Aid Sports Koolers for young jocks . . .
but these are sli ht variations onl on a familiar theme/PM in Kraft seeking
new trove o erica s es - nown rands, w ic can be extended :
Parkay margarine, Miracle Whip topping, Velveeta cheese . Breyer's ice
cream + powerful springboard into foreign mkts & into food-service biz
in which K is #2 now/PM CREDOs best, not first#*#"'~etter Imown £or ~IStg
~ertise than bold innovation . . . Mell PM's URBANE CHAIN-93~P~K
The pro~lems "Ultzmately, stretching axw a brand to its limit w line extensions
can erode brand loyalty if mgrs try to make the brand all things to all
consumers"#*#*~(RKs what made the product distinctive & desirable will be
removed) + KRAFT LINE w/hv dairy content is not where the Amer diet-
& health-consciousness has een ie or -the '9os in era of se-called ~
1Tlight" foods, K has been slow to ut its cheeses & salad dr ' ~
41'y2t . . .PM will have o pump fresh life into K as i d nto GF . . .K's ~
, Richman, CEO, asked recently re his co .'s interest in dev . of fat substi-~
!!!!' tutes, suggested it was modest, telling analysts he thought such developments
"interesting, but they must be marketplace proven"**********//K's ~
well-regarded pres Michael A . MILES disparages quickie nroduct intros, ~
C.T7
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/fmw44c00/pdf