Key Points: Despite decades of clear evidence about the health dangers of smoking cigarette manufacturers remain for the most part solid financial investments. Why is this? This session will attempt to answer the question of why big tobacco remains profitable by examining the past deeds, present actions, and future trends of Philip Morris, USA (PM), Reynolds-American (RAI), and Lorillard (Loews). Particular attention will be paid to exploring how each of these companies have evolved over the past 50 years and how this evolution has shaped their respective positions on smoking and health issues, marketing, youth prevention, corporate responsibility, litigation, and international trade.

Learning Objectives: Participants in this session will learn…

• who big tobacco is and how different US cigarette manufacturers have evolved over the past 50 years to respond to public health concerns about the risks of smoking;

• current corporate strategies employed by different US cigarette manufacturers to respond to an ever increasingly hostile marketplace for selling their products; and

• likely future directions of the tobacco industry in the United States and globally.

Benefits: Designing interventions to address the tobacco problem will be enhanced by a better understanding of who the tobacco industry is and what motivates their actions.