Tob Control. Published Online First: 13 March 2008. doi:10.1136/tc.2008.025148
SPECIAL COMMUNICATION
British American Tobacco ghost-wrote reports on tobacco Advertising bans by the International Advertising Association and J J Boddewyn
Henry Ford Health System, United States
E-mail: ron.davis{at}ama-assn.org
In 1983 and 1986, the International Advertising Association (IAA) published an original version and then a revision of a report entitled "Tobacco Advertising Bans and Consumption in 16 Countries," which were edited by J J Boddewyn, a marketing professor. The reports concluded that tobacco advertising bans have not been accompanied by any significant reduction in tobacco consumption. Opponents of tobacco advertising restrictions trumpeted the IAA reports in print materials, media communications and legislative hearings during the 1980s and beyond. A new analysis of tobacco industry documents and transcripts of tobacco litigation testimony reveals that British American Tobacco ghost-wrote the IAA reports and that the Tobacco Institute (the trade association then representing the major US cigarette manufacturers) helped to arrange for Boddewyn to present the findings to the US Congress and the media. Further research on tobacco industry documents and tobacco litigation transcripts should assess whether tobacco industry sources were responsible for ghostwriting other studies favourable to the industry.
Relevant Article
- Back to the future: tobacco industry interference, evidence and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
- Melanie Wakefield, Jonathan Liberman
Tob. Control 2008 17: 145-146.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
eLetters:
Read all eLetters
- A Reply from JJ Boddwyn to R.M. Davis
- Jean J Boddewyn
- Tobacco Control Online, 14 Apr 2008 [Full text]
- A Reply from R.M. Davis to JJ Boddwyn
- Ronald M. Davis
- Tobacco Control Online, 18 Apr 2008 [Full text]
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