The Philip Morris Foundation for a Smoke-Free World

The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World was established in September 2017 by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris. This one claims, on the contrary, even today, to be a " independent non-profit organization committed to reducing death and disease caused by tobacco use ".

An analysis of its budget for 2019 products reveals a completely different situation. More than two years after declaring that it wanted to obtain other donors, this foundation remains solely financed by Philip Morris International (PMI) which uses it as a tool in its public relations strategy

Philip Morris is a multinational company that exported in 2019, more than 700 billion cigarettes in the world, with a net turnover of 78 billion US dollars even though this company has stated that it "wants to stop selling traditional cigarettes"

The Foundation presents itself as a scientific organization, However, nearly a third (31%, or $24.5 million) of its budget was spent on salaries, public relations and legal fees, among other things. According to an initial analysis of the income statement by the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath, a STOP partner, only about half (41 million dollars) was in grant funding.

The Tobacco Control Research Group has also found that many grants fund what is more public relations and lobbying activities than scientific research. This funding includes support for news from LIFE, a tobacco industry front site to "increase public awareness of the causes of the dangers of smoking and the availability of alternatives"; the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organizations (INNCO) to “promote tobacco harm reduction on the global stage” and the Conrad Foundation to organize science competitions for children. All these structures develop the same message associated with the promotion of the cigarette manufacturer's new products.

The Foundation is still working extensively with lobbying and public relations organizations, with law firms and communications agencies with historical and/or current ties to the tobacco industry. The companies Ogilvy and Ruder Finn, which have worked with Philip Morris for decades to help create doubts about the harms of tobacco, are an illustration of this.

Despite massive financial expenditures on these communications and public relations agencies, the Foundation appears to struggle to gain legitimacy and establish credible links with academic institutions. Only 16% of the Foundation's scholarship holders are based in an academic institution.

The Foundation also appears to be finding it increasingly difficult to recruit staff. The Foundation has spent huge amounts of money trying to find new employees. It spent over $852,000 on recruitment consultants in 2019, or 11 times more than its recruitment expenditure in 2018.

It thus appears that the Foundation is above all a front group for the cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris. The latter invests substantial sums in it, mainly for public relations purposes. However, the sums are significantly less than the investments of the same cigarette manufacturer in motor sports in order to directly promote its products.

In this perspective, the health authorities are warning about the real purposes of this structure serving the cigarette manufacturer which are incompatible with public health objectives.

©Tobacco Free Generation

©National Committee Against Smoking |