WARNING: This site deals only with the corporate corruption of science, and makes no inference about the motives or activities of individuals involved.
    There are many reasons why individuals become embroiled in corporate corruption activities - from political zealotry to over-enthusiastic activism; from gullibility to greed.
    Please read the OVERVIEW carefully, and make up your own mind.

OPINION ONLY

CASE was nothing more substantial than a lobby group, established and run by the tobacco industry as an extension of the Freedom to Advertise Coalition which was mostly controlled by advertising groups and the National Chamber Foundation. This was effectively the tobacco industry's Freedom to Sponsor campaign.

As the rights to advertise cigarettes dwindled, the tobacco industry's ability to tie its interests to sporting bodies (especially those involving young people's sports) became important as it provided a means of influencing the political scene through the often-vocal support of parents. Taking tobacco-sponsorship out of sports was seen as equivalent to stealing pacifiers from babies.

The Australian Labor Government found an effective way to counter this tobacco lobby by imposing a tax on cigarettes, and using these funds to match the old sponsorship dollars.

Some key documents

• [Note the abbreviation CASE was also used in the period 1985-6 for Citizens for A Sound Economy. This later became just CSE]

1986: The Tobacco Institute Board of Directors winter meeting speech by PR head, Bill Kloepfer.

Last year, with the help of RJ Reynolds, we helped establish the Coalition for Affordable Sports and Entertainment — a group of sports promoters dedicated to helping us oppose measures to prohibit sports sponsorship. With them, we soon hope to have research which shows public support for continued sponsorship, and the economic effect of blocking sponsors.

1986 Jan: Tobacco Institute's budget/plan:

GOAL:

• Seek establishment by June 30, 1986, of an arts alliance, Peoples' Access to Cultural Events (PACE), analagous to the Committee for Affordable Sports and Entertainment (CASE).
• Maintain liaison with CASE to help expand its membership, broaden its scope and amplify its voice.
• Budget allocates $60k for CASE economic and Public opinion research, $20l for CASE support.

1987 Feb: The Director Advertising Issues at the Tobacco Institute, Fred Panzer reports:

Freedom to Advertise — organisation
The Committee for Affordable Sports and Entertainment (CASE) was contacted with disappointing results. The racing community is in a holding pattern, experiencing some inner turmoil and trying to develop a consensus on how to handle the ad ban issue.

    Ed Youngblood of the American Motorcyclist Association and executive director of CASE, will meet with other leaders at the NASCAR meeting in Orlando in March and get back to us.

1987 Apr 6: Peter Sparber (Issues manager at the Tobacco Institute) receives the budget papers for his "Freedom to Advertise Coalition (FAC)" operations,

• The tobacco industry pays $100,000 in dues to the FAC operations.
• A further $100,000 has been set aside for printing the "Helping Youth Decide (HYD)" kits and reproduction of the videos (This is for the NASBE)
• $650,000 has been set aside for advertising this HYD program
• James Peterson (who devised the NASBE project) + advertising creative fees will be another $130,000
• A further $120,000 covers "first amendment" activites [support for ACLU, etc. who support claims that commercial free-speech exists] and educational groups "other than NASBE and CASE [Coalition for Affordable Sports and Entertainment - a car-racing tobacco front-group].

1987 April 7: Tobacco Institute memo on the Freedom to Advertise Coalition Budget. It lists the main costs of supporting the FAC.

• Membership: $100,000
  Cost to join FAC is for "the tobacco industry." This sum represents direct lobbying and legislative support fees for cigarettes as well as smokeless. No determination has been made as to the proportion of the total to be borne by cigarettes.
• Reproduction Printing: $100,000
• Advertising: $50,000
  
      For advocacy ads in the DC market. There is $650,000 for HYD and HYS advertising in the [1308-6200] budget. [HYD= "Help Youth Decide"]
• Professional Fees: $130,000
      [Mainly to James Peterson who ran the NASBE "Help Youth Decide" campaign.]
• Support to Other Organizations: $120,000
  
      The current [1308-7500] budget has $115,000 to cover first amendment activity, support to educational groups other than NASBE, and CASE.

1987 May 5: Sam Chilcote (head of Tobacco Institute) memo to the Executive Committee re. tobacco advertising ban in Canada and the US and the Strategies and Programs that the TI has implemented to block them, He notes:

Coalitions and Expert Witnesses

• Freedom toAdvertise Coalition (FAC), consisting of major, adivertising and magazine publishing trade associations (AAAA, AAF, ANA, MPA), plus the active assistance of the newspaper publishers (ANPA), as well as representatives of industries at risk.
  
      This.group serves principally in a lobbying-capacity but is considering sponsorship of advertising, press conferences and other public communications projects.
  
• The Committee for Affordable Sports and Entertainment (CASE) consists of executives from sports sponsored by the industry and is prepared to testify at hearings on cigarette promotion.
• First Amendment groups
  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
  • American Bar Association (ABA),
  • Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press,
• Freedom of Expression Foundation,

1987 May 5: Sam Chilcote (head of Tobacco Institute) memo to the Executive Committee re. tobacco advertising ban in Canada and the US and the Strategies and Programs that the TI has implemented to block them, He notes:

Coalitions and Expert Witnesses

• Freedom toAdvertise Coalition (FAC), consisting of major, adivertising and magazine publishing trade associations (AAAA, AAF, ANA, MPA), plus the active assistance of the newspaper publishers (ANPA), as well as representatives of industries at risk.
• The Committee for Affordable Sports and Entertainment (CASE)
• First Amendment groups
  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
  • American Bar Association (ABA),
  • Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press,
• Freedom of Expression Foundation,

1988 Oct: Report on primary activites of the Tobacco Institute lists under the heading "Advertising Issues" [Page 15]

The anti-tobacco forces closed out the month with a media event meeting of the Surgeon General's Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health (ICSH) on sports sponsorship. Although they lined up an array of hostile witnesses, headed by Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, media coverage was exceptionally sparse.

    We covered and reported on the ICSH meeting on the "public health implications of tobacco sponsorship of sporting events." We also coordinated preparation and submission of favorable testimony.

    Statements were submitted by The Tobacco Institute, the Smokeless Tobacco Council, the Committee for Affordable Sports and Entertainment (CASE), the National Tobacco Council, The Washington Legal Foundation, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Group [Funded by Philip Morris].

    We began work with company representatives to form a coalition of performing and visual artists to oppose any legislation in the next Congress that would ban corporate sponsorship of cultural events. Timelines and budget have been submitted and meetings with member companies are set for next month.

    Similarly, staff is working with member companies to reactivate CASE to oppose legislation banning tobacco sponsorship of sports events. This coalition represents most motor sports. Timelines have been submitted and meetings with member companies are set for late November or early December.

1989 June 21: A briefing given to Philip Morris executive Ehud Houminger reveals that CASE was organised by RJ Reynolds Tobacco and supported by Philip Morris to provide "sanctioned bodies of sports that receive sponsorship funds."
    See Page 17 [TIMN0364511]

1989 Nov: /E Tobacco Institute Public Affairs budget and operating plan for 1990 says:

Advertising Restrictions
[O]ur allies, the civil liberties groups and the membership of the Freedom to Advertise Coalition, perceived the bills as tantamount to prohibition.

    [The] Coalition for Affordable Sports and Entertainment (CASE) has been revitalized and expanded to include cultural and entertainment groups in addition to the original sports organizations. CASE can be counted upon to provide witnesses, written testimony and other third party support on the issue of sponsorship.
Strategy II: Goals and Tactics:

• Support organizations adversely impacted by the severe censorship provisions of content control legislation that would eliminate [] sports, cultural, entertainment sponsorship;
• Create a government relations task force for CASE and encourage it to contact and educate key public policymakers on the importance and limitations of promotional activities.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License