Four Year Strategic Plan Issues

Four Year Strategic Plan Issues

This 1989 memo by Melinda A. Simmons of R.J. Reynolds' marketing department briefly discusses how rival cigarette maker Philip Morris has aggressively exploited the lax restrictions on tobacco marketing and lack of recognition of the health hazards of smoking in Mexico. Simmons points out that "[T]here appear to be less restrictions on the types of activities a cigarette company can get involved in [in Mexico] (e.g., marketing child-size logoed clothing)," and points out how the Philip Morris tobacco company has been selling Marlboro promotional items in Mexico "that consumers actually purchase at full retail cost, so that YAS [young adult smoker] consumers become 'walking billboards' for the brand."

She also points out conditions that are advantageous for cigarette marketing in Mexico, saying that "Mexico is a huge market where the smoking incidence is high and social/health-related concerns almost non-existent," and longingly muses, "...if Philip Morris can be successful [in Mexico], why can't we?"

Title FOUR YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN ISSUES. Author Melinda A. Simmons (M.A. Simmons) Date 19890927 Type LETTER Bates 507553796/3798 Collection R.J. Reynolds Pages 3 URL: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/nwk24d00