Altria

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Background

Altria, known pre-2003 as Philip Morris Companies Inc., is the American parent company of:[1]

  • Philip Morris USA, a cigarette manufacturer
  • U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, a smokeless tobacco manufacturer
  • John Middleton, a cigars and pipe tobacco manufacturer
  • Nat Sherman, a premium cigarettes and cigars manufacturer (from 2017)
  • Nu Mark, an e-cigarette company
  • Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, a wine producer

In January 2019, Altria employed over 8,000 people in the United States (US).[1]

Altria's tobacco arm owns four major brands, Marlboro, Copenhagen, Skoal and Black & Mild. It owned e-cigarette brands Mark Ten and Greensmoke.[1][2] which were discontinued in December 2018,[3] For more information see E-Cigarettes: Altria

Philip Morris USA vs Philip Morris International

Prior to 2007, Altria also owned the international operations of Philip Morris. But in 2007, the company decided to separate the firm's US and international operations. According to the Associated Press, the move cleared "the international tobacco business from the legal and regulatory constraints facing its domestic counterpart, Philip Morris USA".[4]

The spin-off was completed in 2008, leaving two distinct companies: independent Philip Morris International and Philip Morris USA (the latter remains under Altria's control).[5]

For a brief history of the company and its origins in Richmond Virginia, see the Richmond Magazine’s timeline.[6]


Employees & Board Members: Past and Present

Howard Willard became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of Altria in May 2018, replacing Martin J. Barrington who had held that role for the previous six years.

A full list of the company's leadership team can be accessed at | Altria's website. Other people associated with the company:

Elizabeth Bailey | Gerald Baliles | Harold Brown | Louis C. Camilleri | David R . Beran | John Casteen | Dinyar Devitre | Thomas Farrell | Dudley Fishburn | Kevin Freudenthal | Carlos Slim Helú | Craig A. Johnson | Thomas Jones | Denise F. Keane | Martin Liptrot | George Muñoz | Lucio A. Noto | John R. Nelson Jr. | Nabil Sakkab | Michael E. Szymanczyk | Howard A. Willard III

Affiliations

In 2017, Altria reported that it financially supported and had employees in voluntary leadership roles in the following commerce and trade organisations:[7]

US Chamber of Commerce | National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)| | National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) | National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) | | California Retailers Association | New England Convenience Stores and Energy Marketers Association | Virginia Chamber of Commerce | Texas Association of Business

Altria is also a member of the “Private Enterprise Advisory Council” of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national corporate lobbying organisation, and has a long-standing relationship with the tobacco industry.[8][9] PR Watch describe ALEC as “an influential, under-the-radar organization that facilitates collaboration between many of the most powerful corporations in America and state-level legislative representatives”.[8] Head of Altria Client Services, Daniel Smith, sits on ALEC’s “Private Enterprise” board.[10][11] PR Watch reported that Altria and Phillip Morris had given ALEC US$1.4 million between 1995 and 2010.[9][12]

Political Contributions

Altria declares its direct political contributions on its website.[13] In 2018 the company declared US$4.2 million in donations in the District of Columbia (home of the US capital Washington DC), with over US$3.2 million going to Republican groups.[13] In the 2018 US election cycle Open Secrets calculated that Altria has spent over US$3 million on direct political donations.[14]

The company also supports the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) and the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.[7]

Political Lobbying

Altria employs professional political lobbyists, in part to undermine tobacco regulations in state governments. The Center for Responsive Politics stated that the company spent over $10 million on lobbying in 2017-18,[14] and that the majority of the lobbyists they contracted had previously worked for the US government.[14][15] In 2018, Altria hired Mercury, a US public relations company to be its “Washington lobbyist on tobacco product legislation”.[16]


In April 2019 Politico reported that Altria had recently hired a former aide to Kentucky Senator and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (a Republican), to lobby on tobacco issues.[17][18][19] In May 2019 Senator McConnell introduced a national bill to raise the legal age for buying tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21.[20][21][22] An earlier draft of the bill had been described as too “industry-friendly”, and risked undermining stronger state controls over youth smoking and vaping.[22][23] McConnell, who has been described as a “long term industry ally”,[23] received a donation of US$79,000 from Altria to his 2018 election campaign.[24] The bill’s co-sponsor, Virginia Democrat Senator Tim Kaine, received just over $US80,000.[25]

Lobbying in Kentucky

In January 2018, the Louisville Courier Journal reported that the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission records showed that the highest paid people working at the Kentucky Assembly were lobbyists paid by large corporations, including tobacco companies, to influence the State government.[26] The records named six lobbyists that listed Altria as a client:[27]

  • James "Jitter" Allen
  • Linda T Magee
  • John T McCarthy III
  • John S Rainey Jr, Altria
  • Michael ('Mike') Shea, Partner at lobbying firm Government Strategies

In 2018 Altria spent over $0.5 million lobbying the Kentucky legislature,[28] including over $330,000 lobbying against a tobacco tax increase.[29] Although the increase was voted through, the bill did not appear to include a planned tax on e-cigarettes.[17] Ben Chandler, President and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky (and a former member of Congress) said:

"We had it in the bill and it mysteriously disappeared on the last day of the session…we're still not entirely sure where it went." [17]

After a meeting between Senator McConnell and the Foundation in Kentucky in April 2019, e-cigarettes were included in McConnell’s ‘Tobacco Free Youth’ bill.[22]

Lobbying in Colorado

In April 2019, The Colorado Sun revealed that Altria had hired “at least 10” lobbyists to stop a new bill approving an increase in tobacco tax, and a new nicotine tax which would include vaping products, in the US state of Colorado.[30] The bill aimed to raise money for health and education programmes in the state.[31] Altria paid for a website and social media accounts, styled as “No Blank Checks for Colorado”, which appeared at the same time the bill was announced and encouraged voters to contact local Democratic politicians. [30]

In 2016, Altria had successfully lobbied against an amendment to Colorado state law, which proposed an increase in taxes on tobacco products in order to raise $300 million for health and education. The company contributed $16 million to the campaign against Amendment 72 (“No Blanks Checks in the Constitution”), which was rejected by Colorado voters by a small margin.[31][32]

Public Lobbying Websites

Altria’s tobacco companies (Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., John Middleton, and Nat Sherman) have set up two websites “to provide our stakeholders with information on proposed legislation and to facilitate their communications with their elected officials”.[33] One website Tobacco Issues[34] provides a lobbying platform for tobacco retailers and other trade members. It details proposed legislation; gives information and arguments that can be against regulation (for example on tax); and provides tools for contacting media and lobbying decision-makers, including a model letter.[34] The other website, Citizens for Tobacco Rights,[35] performs a similar function for “adult tobacco consumers”,[33] and includes instructions for using Facebook and Twitter to spread information and lobby politicians.[36]

Funding Universities

The Commonwealth Times revealed in April 2019 that Altria had donated more than $2.5 million to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) between 2016 and 2019.[37] Altria is the biggest company in Richmond, and the university’s biggest corporate donor.[37] Recent donations include funding for students in STEM (Science, Technology and Maths) and business subjects, and $1 million to support the VCU School of Engineering.[38] This relationship has been longstanding with Altria regularly giving large sums to the university, including donations to the School of Education ($1 million in 2010),[39] and the da Vinci Center for Innovation ($1.5 million in 2012).[40]

A spokesperson for VCU said that the relationship with Altria, had been “very beneficial to a number of areas in the university,” including employing students after their studies.[37] In 2019 VCU banned smoking on campus, including the use of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.[37][41]It also receives grants for smoke free activities from the American Cancer Society and the CVS Health Foundation, and hosted a Tobacco-Free Higher Education Summit in April.[37]

VCU has been criticized, along with other American Universities including the University of Virginia, for accepting research funding from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company.[42] In 2006 a contract worth US$1.3 million was signed between Philip Morris and VCU.[42] According to the New York Times this required the company’s permission for researchers to publish their results or discuss their work, and gave patents and intellectual property rights to Philip Morris.[43]

In 2007 Philip Morris USA donated $25 million to the University of Virginia for “independent research” to “help prevent youth smoking, improve the effectiveness of smoking-cessation efforts and reduce the harm caused by smoking.”[44] At the time, John T. Casteen III was president of the University of Virginia. He was appointed to Altria’s Board of Directors in 2010.

Funding Scientists

Funding scientists is a well-established strategy for the tobacco industry to influence the research agenda and create doubt about independent research and scientific consensus around smoking and health.[45]

Altria has a history of funding scientists.

In 2006, UK newspaper The Guardian revealed that Altria had paid Steve Milloy, the founder of the website Junkscience.com (which was part-funded by the company), under contract "until at least the end of 2005" to discredit studies, among other things, on environmental tobacco smoke.[46]

From 2010 to 2013, Altria also funded Brad Rodu, an outspoken proponent of tobacco harm reduction.[47] Using his blog (rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com), Rodu has criticised tobacco control experts in the US and the European Union (EU), and attempted to create doubt about the science behind regulations on potentially reduced risk products such as smokeless tobacco, snus, and e-cigarettes.[48] For example, in 2013, when the EU was revising its tobacco control measures in the Tobacco Products Directive, Rodu called the EU snus ban "indefensible and immoral".[49] A blogpost earlier that year heavily criticised a study by the Harvard School of Public Health demonstrating that smokeless tobacco users were likely to smoke, with Rodu discrediting the lead author as a "tobacco prohibitionist" and the study as being "tainted by unscientific bias".[50]

In 2012, Rodu praised Altria's nicotine lozenge Verve in the Winston-Salem Journal, being quoted as saying "This is a positive development for American smokers, because it introduces them to another category of recreational smoke-free cigarette substitutes".[51] The article failed to disclose that Rodu was, at that time, funded by Altria.[47]

To learn more about the tobacco industry's history of influencing science, visit our pages on how the tobacco industry commissioned research and reviews and created doubt about existing scientific evidence.

Next Generation Products

To improve the tobacco industry's sustainability, tobacco companies have invested in tobacco and nicotine products that, unlike cigarettes, may show volume growth potential in developed markets.[52]These products are often referred to as Next Generation Products (NGPs), and are linked to tobacco companies' harm reduction strategies.

In February 2018, Altria’s CEO Martin J. Barrington told investors that Altria’s goal was to be “the U.S. leader in reduced risk products”.[53][54]

Altria has an agreement with Philip Morris International to distribute its e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. In 2018 it bought a 35% share in Juul Labs.

In 2019 Altria announced that it was acquiring an 80% share in oral nicotine pouch On, produced by Swiss tobacco company Burger Sohne, which would be manufactured and marketed through a new Altria subsidiary, Helix Innovations.[55][56]


Stake in Alcohol Industry

Altria owns wine producer Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and used to have a 27.1% share in SABMiller, one of the world's largest brewers and bottling companies, before that company merged with AB InBev in 2016.[57] Following the merger, AB InBev became the largest beer company in the world, of which Altria owns 10.2% as of January 2020.[58]

TobaccoTactics Resources

Relevant Link

Altria homepage

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Altria, At-A-Glance, Altria website, undated, accessed May 2019
  2. ↑ Nu Mark, Our Products, undated, accessed January 2018
  3. ↑ NuMark: An Altria Innovation Company, Altria website, undated, accessed May 2019
  4. ↑ Associated Press, Altria to spin off Philip Morris International, NBCnews.com, 29 August 2007, accessed May 2019
  5. ↑ Altria, Our Heritage, Altria website, undated, accessed May 2019
  6. ↑ Built on Smoke: A timeline of tobacco in Richmond, Richmond Magazine, 3 June 2019, accessed January 2020
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Altria, Engaging with Others: Membership in Policy-Oriented Organizations, Altria website, undated, accessed May 2019
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 ALEC and the tobacco industry, The Center for Media and Democracy, 15 July 2011, accessed May 2019
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 J. Glenza, S. Kelly, J. Adolphe, Free-market groups and the tobacco industry – full database, The Guardian, undated, accessed May 2019
  10. ↑ American Legislative Exchange Council, Daniel Smith, ALEC website, accessed May 2019
  11. ↑ Daniel Smith, SourceWatch, undated, accessed May 2019
  12. ↑ R. Wilce, Some ALEC Funders Flee, but Koch, Big Tobacco, and PhRMA Remain Loyalists, PR Watch, 1 August 2014, accessed May 2019
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Altria, Political Contributions, 2018, Altria website, accessed May 2019
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Center for Responsive Politics, Altria Group: Profile for 2018 Election Cycle, OpenSecrets.org, undated, accessed May 2019
  15. ↑ Center for Responsive Politics, Lobbyists representing Altria Group, 2018, OpenSecrets.org , undated, accessed May 2019
  16. ↑ K. McCauley, Altria Taps Mercury for Tobacco Regulation Work, O’Dwyers, 4 June 2018, accessed March 2019
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 R. Rayasam, R. Pradhan, S. Owermohle, McConnell plan to hike smoking age could be win for tobacco companies, Politico, 28 April 2019, accessed May 2019
  18. ↑ S.A. Glantz, Altria and Juul continue their blitz to undermine Tobacco 2, Center for Tobacco Research Control and Education blog, University of California San Francisco, 23 April 2019, accessed May 2019
  19. ↑ Lobbying: Altria Client Services, ProPublica.org, Second Quarter 2019, accessed May 2019
  20. ↑ United States Senate, Tobacco-Free Youth Act, accessed May 2019
  21. ↑ T. Barrett, McConnell unveils bill to combat youth tobacco use by raising purchase age to 21, CNN, 20 May 2019, accessed May 2019
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 S. Owermohle, McConnell and Kaine unveil bill to raise tobacco age to 21, Politico, 20 May 2019, accessed May 2019
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 L. E. White, D. Nanez, Big tobacco’s surprising new campaign to raise the smoking age, Center for Public Integrity, 23 May 2019, accessed May 2019
  24. ↑ Center for Responsive Politics, Sen. Mitch McConnell - Kentucky, OpenSecrets.org, undated, accessed May 2019
  25. ↑ Center for Responsive Politics, Sen. Tim Kaine - Virginia, OpenSecrets.org, undated, accessed May 2019
  26. ↑ T. Loftus, These 20 lobbyists were among the highest paid at the state Capitol in 2017, Louisville Courier Journal, 31 January 2018, accessed January 2018
  27. ↑ Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission Kentucky Registered Legislative Agents, 19 January 2018, accessed January 2018
  28. ↑ T.Loftus, Here’s who spent a record $22M trying to influence Kentucky legislators, Louisville Courier Journal, 18 January 2019, accessed May 2019
  29. ↑ A. Beam, Lobbyist spending tops $8.4 million in Kentucky Legislature, AP News, 1 May 2019, accessed May 2019
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 J. Paul, Big tobacco is fighting Colorado’s nicotine tax bill with powerful lobbyists and a social media campaign, The Colorado Sun, 30 April 2019, accessed May 2019
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 C. Osher, Polis, Democrats will seek voter approval to boost nicotine taxes to raise money for education and health care, The Colorado Sun, 23 April 2019, accessed May 2019
  32. ↑ Colorado Tobacco Tax Increase, Amendment 72 (2016), Ballotpedia, undated, accessed May 2019
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Altria, Engaging with Others: Engagement with stakeholders, Altria website, undated, accessed May 2019
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Tobacco Issues, Tobacco Issues website, undated, accessed May 2019
  35. ↑ Tobacco Rights, Tobacco Rights website, undated, accessed May 2019
  36. ↑ Advocate Toolkit, Tobacco Issues website, undated, accessed May 2019
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 VCU plans to ban tobacco but keep Altria partnership, The Commonwealth Times, 17 April 2019, accessed May 2019
  38. ↑ S. Wheeler Marrs, Innovation Maker Facility at School of Engineering forges ahead, boosted by gift from Altria Group, VCU News, 3 March 2017, accessed May 2019
  39. ↑ VCU School of Education Receives $1 Million from Altria to Support School Improvement, VCU news, 11 March 2010, accessed May 2019
  40. ↑ C. Williams Jones, VCU da Vinci Center Receives $1.5 Million Grant from Altria, VCU News, 19 September 2012, accessed May 2019
  41. ↑ J. M. Lazarus, VCU goes tobacco free, Richmond Free Press, 12 July 2019, accessed January 2020
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Union of Concerned Scientists, Phillip Morris Funds University Research – with Strings Attached, Center for Science and Democracy, undated, accessed may 2019
  43. ↑ A. Finder, At One University, Tobacco Money is a Secret, The New York Times, 22 May 2008, accessed May 2019
  44. ↑ University of Virginia, Philip Morris USA Supports Medical Research and Business Leadership with $25 Million Gift to U.Va., UVa Press Release, 9 February 2007, accessed May 2019
  45. ↑ M. Scollo, Denial & Delay: The Political History of Smoking and Health 1951-1964, Scientists, Government and Industry as seen in the papers at the Public Records Office. British Medical Journal, 2000;321(7257):389
  46. ↑ G. Monbiot, The denial industry, The Guardian , 19 September 2006, accessed January 2018
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 B. Rodu, DDS Curriculum Vitae, 1 December 2014, accessed March 2017
  48. ↑ B. Rodu, www.rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com, accessed April 2017
  49. ↑ B. Rodu, What the EU Snus Ban Means: 290, 865 Casualties Per Year, 27 November 2013, available from: rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com, accessed April 2017
  50. ↑ B. Rodu, Fabricating a Smoking Gateway, available from rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com, accessed April 2017
  51. ↑ R. Craver, Altria tests smokeless product that contains no tobacco, Winston-Salem Journal, 24 May 2012, accessed January 2018
  52. ↑ Euromonitor International, Global Tobacco Key Findings Part 2: Vapour Products. August 2016
  53. ↑ M. Kress, Altria Sets Sights on Leading Reduced-Risk Tobacco Push, ConvenienceStore News, 5 March 2018, accessed March 2018
  54. ↑ G. Robertson, Strategic Shift, Richmond Magazine, 3 June 2019, accessed January 2020
  55. ↑ A. LaVito, Altria takes stake in Swiss tobacco company Burger Sohne's global businesses for $372 million as cigarette sales shrink, CNBC, 3 June 2019, accessed January 2020.
  56. ↑ Altria Enters Growing Oral Nicotine Products Category with on! Pouch Product, Business Wire, 3 June 2019, accessed January 2020
  57. ↑ R. Hargreaves, Altria's holding in SAB is worth more than you think, Seeking Alpha, 5 August 2014, accessed January 2018
  58. ↑ Altria, Companies – At-A-Glance, accessed 9 January 2020
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