Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Article Spotlight: Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?

In light of the soda tax propositions that were on the ballot in California and elsewhere, we are revisiting an important and relevant paper from 2012 for our Article Spotlight:

Dorfman L, Cheyne A, Friedman L, Wadud A, Gottlieb M. Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare? 2012 June. PLoS Med 9(6).

This 2012 paper, published in PLOS Med, compared the tobacco and beverage industries’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) tactics, and found striking similarities. The authors found that "soda CSR campaigns echo tobacco CSR in their focus on the consumer and in their likely intent to thwart regulation." Because sugary beverages are implicated in the global obesity crisis, major soda manufacturers have recently employed elaborate, expensive, multinational corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns. These campaigns are very similar to the tobacco industry's use of CSR as a means to focus responsibility on consumers rather than on the corporation, bolster the companies' and their products' popularity, and to prevent regulation.

Key Documents from the UCSF Truth Tobacco Industry Documents:

• In 1999, Philip Morris described one CSR program [known as PM21] as "a multi-faceted, cross functional effort to change the public's perception of Philip Morris and to improve the public's attitudes toward the company and the people who work for it."
  https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/xqgb0077


• Through focus groups, PM found that company credibility and perceptions of PM were low: "PM is still seen as a tobacco company...participants do not perceive PM as responsible." But, "credibility increased after participants learned of PM's community contributions."
  https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/khpj0054


• In response to the prevalence of underage smoking, all of the major tobacco companies instituted 'youth smoking prevention' programs to avert increased regulation.
  https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/pjlk0132


• "CSR campaigns can improve a firm's standing with the public and policymakers and they are potentially a powerful mechanism to forestall regulation." Philip Morris' Third Party Constituents database is an example of maintaining lists of "friends" and constituents that could be mobilized quickly to help combat a specific region's impending regulations.
  https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/jrlm0128


• "The overall goal for the tobacco industry's CSR strategy has been to normalize its products and its corporate image"
  https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/qqdy0064
  https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/jmfj0073