PM History/2 - Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

PM history/48
--CLASSIC PM & INDUSTRY ARGUMENTS IN NYT LETTER 9- . 23- : From John
A . Kochevar, v~-cor~ af£airs PM 9-5-89, headl9 .ned " o~n 'ELiken Smk to
D ru t, rut, Addiction" . . .in answer to NYT editorial "Raise ig rices, Save
Lives" . . .starts by (1) minimizing the health peril, "§j tkg tob . .does no l
impair a nerson~ abilitv to reason or function" adding ci- smTcrs do not
~tttf
roo conven~.ence store or '6ea the£- ir families in a mooa-aitier ao
more than 40 mi ion e nave quit, 90 w o cessation programs ; the
same can't be said of heroin, crack & cocaine dealers ; (2) US cig industrv
"does not mkt to children & "In fact, it has attempted to discourage youth
from sm g by prov~.ding the $arental guidebooks "Helping Youth Decide' &
'Helping Youth Say No' .(3) the 60 million adult US smkrs pay $10 billion
/1
a yr in excise taxes, the most regressive form of taxation and efforts
to increase consumer taxes disproportionately hit the poor" (RK= & what
effect on these same poor do the industry's twice yearly price rises, sheer
profiteering & unrelated to rising costs, have?) . . .hi~her excise taxes
"would unfairl enalize these 60 ' lion adult smkr
--T VA SUPERSLIMS LAUNCHz A To ay 9-- M Lights low-smoke
Superslims" saying new bran ts o less smoke from its lit than
other 100mm cigs . . .no a ets like P ' u ord narv ow--tar c~6
wra~ped 87 in - two lavers o vo ous & non-norous paDP.r_ . o ninaCAPRI launched
~n in ultrathin category, B&Wdidn't want company & has filed patentinfringement
suit vs, PM for Superslims//the new brand is 17mm in cir
~erenea vs 24r~m= -eor most brands, has 6mg of tar & .n c ., avaz able
in reg . & menthol###
I
. . .available USwide joining Slims Lights, Slims 120s,
Slims Ultra Lights & now Superslims/ ds sa "Fat S " and
"Introducin the First Low SmokP niF for__omen press kit plugs the VS
tourney, e or amihip Series encompasses more than 60 tournaments
around world w/$17 million in prize money//less spectacular but
effective promo is Va Slims Book o Da s intro ' 2 witt -
` pointm n alrndar .hrnrr,niin women s ro r+ -In hi .orv
' --HOW PM DIVERSIFIED RIGHT, FQ,+-tuna Disappointment has dogged
its efforts to grow beyond tob . but by buying Kraft -- & President Michael
Miles -- it na i .ve found a new money mach~ne//pic on first page of iIM
~iescrihed as prazma ic, ruthless . Tocused . luckv" . . .PM finally beginning
to conquer its addiction to tob . & seems to have picked a winner . . .& if
ever a co . needed to diversify, it's 'M, which depended on a single brand,
M2rl t,nrn _~enr 60% of' ' ts rof'its last vr . . ."We wanted to be own as a
consumer-vroducts co," sez genteel Scotsman Maxwell//Wall St keeps a distance,
knowing that cig profits can't last forever & while esteeming its
stock trade it at a discount out of concern over tob ; cig consumption is
declining in US (RKz but growing elsewhere) & litigation remains a threat/
early success of KGF "provides a.essons on making a merger work & creating
a fast-growing biz in a slow-growing industry/not just glittering array
of famous brand names u~ t RIGOROUS -C TTIN BACK-TO-BASICS M techniques
that are hallmark o I-a~-1BOs . . .in particular Pgen~l on ^-r.hA
TOUGH-MINDED . SLEEIff.Y_.GROOMED MILES ._5_.O, who succeeded Richman, 61, as
KGF chief last month" . . .A BELIEVER IN CAREFUL ANALYSIS & FAST ACTION, a
"_business iunkie" who shows up for work at 6am . . ."the very model of the
n w br a of mar that has climbed out of the rubble of inergers & restructurings
across corp . America . IF HE LIVES UP TO HIS PROMISE, says Maxwell,
63, Miles could climb to the top of PM itself" adding "THE ASCENT WON'T
BE EASY" since PM has talented mgrs on cig side including R . WM . MURRAY,
$3 . . ."BV all reaorts . the coldbloQded Miles fits right in at PM, "whose
CORP . CULTURE A NEW E~ MEE SUMS UP AS "SCREW IT ; get it aene"//offie rs
at GF dee 1 resented the PM takeover~, cooperated only reluctantly w their
new masters & ON TWO bh'~GF^'S--'i'I3f~ 35 OFFICERS HAIL FROM GF//Miles, a
NONSMKR, COMPARES RISBS OF CIGS TO OSE OF CHOLESTE ' to th
consumer o a e s or to smok , regardless of how those products
are marketed, adding "S EE ND G ORALLY WRONG W/THE BUSINESS"*#~##use//
Mi1es usuall communicates in cris sober tones, saying "I believe in
ma ing sure you ve done the obvious ings right before you do the less
obvious things that are more risky" . . .at Burnett agency after college he
worked on P&G accts like Secret deodorant ; other client Heublein hired
him 10 rs later as co -mkt ::•.Sci=MM mad:e~his name sa vaga.ng Ky r e
w ic in sudden y seeme o turn bad & reported big losses, tumbling ~O
co profits . . .MM to the rescue : sold demoralized employees on a comeback On
program, fixi.ng almost everything from the menu to training of cooks, he ~
did hands-on direction, introduced buttermilk biscuits, did special train--P
ing for chicken-cooking . . .Ba+4 as a demanding but inspirational boss, con- ~
V
vinced people they had manageable pro'T'. ere were definable-ttfaiFsgs
.~lJriti111 - u1V .LUUGa.C~ -VU.L LLV .YllY~_yE.`1 L(1CUUlH1f1 C . l1GS-U _IU111CLL
~res in '82//HIS MANDATE NOWs JOLT A BYELION A YR ."Mflfl- ON O
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