Dave Gomez, the public affairs and communications manager of Philip Morris, was quoted in this report as saying that the Eraserheads reunion concert will push through. He revealed that Philip Morris is not sponsoring the event — in fact, he said, the tobacco company is organizing it.
“We’re not sponsoring the event. We organized it ourselves,” Gomez was quoted as saying. “The event is free for our valued customers. This is a little something we do for them to show them our appreciation for their continued patronage of our products.”
Gomez emphasized this because of a legal point that would seem to clear Philip Morris of accusations that it violated Republic Act 9211 (the Tobacco Regulation Act). Apparently, under this law, tobacco companies can organize events but they cannot sponsor it. Go figure.
(A bit of an aside: Gomez said he was surprised why anti-tobacco advocates are complaining against a tobacco-backed concert when, according to him, they had done this sort of thing in the past with other bands. Newsflash: The ban on sponsorship took effect only last July 1.)
We grant for a moment that the company’s ass is covered, legally speaking. And, moreover, it’s probably not its fault if this law seemed defective (although big companies are notorious for lobbying legislators to either kill a proposed law or water it down — just look at what they’re doing lobbying hard against a law that would mandate picture-based warnings on cigarette packs).
But where does corporate responsibility come in for Philip Morris?
Surely, they must know that the intent of the law is to protect the public, particularly teenagers, from smoking and that governments around the world have passed legislation banning or restricting the advertising and promotion of tobacco. Yet, here comes Philip Morris and it finds an apparent loophole in our law and then exploits it — disregarding completely the intent of the law. And for what? To be able to sell their products to teenagers and young adults, a market that tobacco companies have been targeting in order to replenish their ranks of smokers.
Isn’t the profit from existing smokers not enough, so that they had to lure more smokers, younger smokers? Is their any hope that Philip Morris would be decent enough to exercise some amount of responsibility?
Aside from finding loopholes in the law, regardless of its clear intent, Philip Morris, as I’ve pointed out in a previous post, has likewise been exploiting the viral-marketing potentials of the Internet. That can only be expected, of course, from a company that peddles a toxic product. What I find disturbing is Philip Morris’s ability to penetrate the mainstream press, the blogs and the mailing lists and apparently manipulate them. That, or there’s complicity on the part of these sectors in the mainstream press and the Internet, whether they knew it or not, to play the company’s game.
A bit of a background is needed here. News about the Eraserheads reunion concert was first reported publicly by Philippine Star entertainment columnist Ricky Lo. In his column, Lo did not name Philip Morris as the one organizing the event. But the column was enough to heighten the buzz.
Pretty soon, Philmusic, a music site whose owner, Jim Ayson, also moderates the largest Eraserheads mailing list (with more than 5,000 members), reported that it had learned from a source that, indeed, Philip Morris/Marlboro is behind the concert. As far as I could tell, philmusic and Ayson’s mailing list is the ground zero of the buzz. It was also there, again as far as I could tell, where people were directed to a website where one can join the “Red List” in order to get tickets to the concert.
In other words, if I were Philip Morris, philmusic and Ayson’s mailing list would be my logical target for planting information or tips that would generate the buzz. Now I’m not suggesting anything improper or unethical on Ayson’s or philmusic’s part. Anybody, after all, can join or post anything on the mailing list or that, knowing Ayson’s clout in the local music scene, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he has sources knowledgeable about the planned concert. In fact, it’s very likely that, it being an extraordinary piece of news and buzz, philmusic just reported what it learned, not knowing perhaps that it was being manipulated by Philip Morris in what was turning out to be a terrific viral marketing campaign.
My point is that, tobacco companies will do anything to sell their products. The Internet, because of its freewheeling nature and its enormous audience composed of precisely the demographic tobacco companies have been targeting, holds huge potentials for the marketing of tobacco. If anything, the buzz that Philip Morris generated for the Eraserheads reunion concert only validated this. (Carlos H. Conde/pinoypress.net)
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August 8th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
While you’re at it, check mo na din kaya ang minutes ng hearings ng Congress at Senate prior to crafting RA 9211. You’ll be in for a big surprise…
And since you’ve liberally quoted na din from a research almost three decades ago, check mo na din ang current Marketing Code ng Philip Morris. That I dare challenge you to do.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
bong, the marketing code of philip morris emphasized the prohibition to sell cigarettes to minors or to advertise or promote to minors. (these codes can be viewed in legacy tobacco documents website of the univ of california san francisco, a treasure trove of internal documents from tobacco companies, including their marketing and pr strategies).
what PM is doing in this case is to do the promotion in a roundabout way. sure, it is to its credit that it doesn’t promote directly to minors. what it does is pay popular people like the eraserheads to essentially do that for them. the eraserheads is popular as well among the under 18 crowd — as can be gleaned from the comments by minors who tried to join the “red list” — and i don’t doubt that PM knows this.
anyway, you seem to know a lot about this matter, so please enlighten us.
August 9th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Huwaaaattttt???? Nag-concert pa sila sa open field tapos hindi naman mapapanood ng general public. They should drop Phillip Morris as their sponsor. Mag-ala Beatles na lang sila. Nag-free concert sa rooftop. Sila din, concert na lang sila sa UP, sa Palma Hall. Malamang libre pa sila.
August 9th, 2008 at 4:25 am
[...] Eraserheads Concert: Who’s Wagging the Dog?By Carlos H. Conde Isn’t the profit of Philip Morris from existing smokers not enough, so that they had to lure more smokers, younger smokers? Is their any hope that a company like Philip Morris would be decent enough to exercise some … [...]
August 9th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Wow, that’s a pretty wild accusation, hehe. Actually, I just repost items posted on the various sources on the net and do the usual Sherlock Holmes deduction. For some reason, the conclusions were right on the money.I think anyone with a bit of interest and time to spare would come to the same conclusions - and the Marlboro ID was written about elsewhere long before Ricky Lo’s article. Just lucky I guess! And just for the record, I’m in the telco business, not the music business.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:26 am
I’m over 18, but I’m not a smoker. The Red List doesn’t even have the “I’m not a smoker” option that I can click. Just because of that one tiny detail, I can’t go to this concert. And no, I don’t want to lie just so I could go.
If the Eraseheads were really doing this for their fans, they’d want ALL fans to get to see them, smokers or not.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:28 am
[...] are really doing this for the music and not for the millions they are getting from Philip Morris. (Read the comment threads to see what I mean.) There’s no doubt that the fans are going to the concert because, as many have insisted here, [...]
August 10th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
[...] is not sponsoring the event — in fact, he said, the tobacco company is organizing it” (source). Huh? Taga organize lang sila? Eh sino ang sponsor? Sino ang magbabayad sa [...]
August 11th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I think minors’s decision trying to get into the red list is beyond PM’s control. But from what I heard, PM will not allow anyone below 18 to enter by requiring a government issued ID at the concert gates.
i think we should give credit to PM as well.
And I thought the press was fair.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:44 am
The Eheads event is part of the annual Red Nation Event of PM. We normally do this with bands playing for the people. As I remember, last year, Parokya ni Edgar played for us. I think the issue now, does not lie only to the fact (for some) that PM violates the AD BAN law. It lies as well to the Eheads reunion issue. If it’s not Eheads who will be playing for PM, then I don’t think this is such a major public affair today.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:14 am
you’re putting the cart before the horse, carids. the issue here is PM circumventing the law, not the eheads reuniting. if it’s parokya that’s going to perform, i’ll probably raise as much hell about it.
August 12th, 2008 at 2:06 am
RA 9211, Sec. 26 provides:
Ban on Sponsorships. - Beginning 1 July 2008, cigarette and tobacco companies are hereby prohibited from sponsoring any sport, concert, cultural art or
event, as well as individual and team athletes, artists, or performers where such sponsorship shall required or involve the advertisement or promotion of any cigarette or tobacco company, tobacco product or tobacco use, name, logo or trademarks and other words, symbols, designs, colors or other depictions commonly associated with
or likely to identify a tobacco product; Provided, further, That no manufacturer may register a tobacco brand name as a company name after the passage of this Act.
para clear lang sa lahat kung ano ba yung provision ng law na allegedly ay na-violate. Galing ng lawyers ng PM, sponsoring vs. organizing…hehe.
off topic: In criminal law, we have crimes which are “mala in se” and “mala prohibita”. Yung mala in se, they are wrong by their very nature, like murder or rape. Yung mala prohibita, they are wrong merely because the law says so, like illegal possession of firearms. Itong advertising/sponsorship ban, this falls under mala prohibita. It is not inherently or morally wrong; it is wrong because of the special law (RA 9211) says that it is.
yun lang.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
“what it does is pay popular people like the eraserheads to essentially do that for them”
may i know what made you say this? quite a wild assumption even to the point of an accusation! this is even tantamount to saying that Eraserheads are paid to promote cigarettes to minors. that’s very much unfair to them. do you seriously believe the E-heads will do that? mr. conde, as far as i know, the Eraserheads were only contracted to do what they do best. that is to perform. i’m sure nowhere in the contract between Eraserheads and PMPMI asks them to do what you are accusing them of doing.
and to quote one comment: “And I thought the press was fair.”
August 12th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
your naivete, bong, is breathtaking. so you think the fact that they’re a tobacco company desperate to market their product (because of all the restrictions in the mass media) it never crossed PM’s mind that the eheads would ESSENTIALLY be endorsing their cigarettes? so what you’re saying now is that philip morris is just doing this for the music and for the sheer fun of it? give me a break.
August 12th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Eto lang ang tanong ko sa Philip Morris: “Hindi ako smoker pero lagpas 18 yrs old na ko. Papayagan nyo ba kong manood ng concert na yan?” Kung oo, LAGYAN NYO NG “I’M NOT A SMOKER” OPTION YANG REGISTRATION FORM NYO. Bwiset eh, dahil dyan hindi ako makakanood! I’m as much an Eheads fan as any smoker out there, dammit!
August 12th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
so you are, mr. conde. it seems your ignorance of facts clouds your judgment. for one, i don’t know what made you think that Philip Morris is desperate. check some data before stating something. for one, PM doesn’t even have 40% of the adult smoker market. they’ve been in the business for quite some time yet they haven’t captured 40% of the adult smoker market. mr. conde, that’s still 60% of the market to be focusing into: a far cry from being desperate so as to shift to minors.
and yes, give us a break.
August 12th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
just because they haven’t dominated the adult market (assuming what you’re saying is true; then again, you sound like you’re in the nicotine-delivery business, so i won’t debate you on that point) doesn’t mean they won’t try for the teen market. as every research shows, the younger your smoking target market is, the better your chances are in really making huge money.
the thing is, THEY CANNOT EVEN SELL BY WAY OF PROMOTIONS to the adult population because of the restrictions on advertising. so they aim for the younger market, the more vulnerable ones, the ones who, 5 or 10 years from now, will be rich enough to sustain the smoking habit and, thus, keep PM happy.
it astounds me that a sane person such as yourself would be rationalizing the actions of big tobacco. then again, as i said, you sound like you’re in the nicotine-delivery business yourself, so…
August 12th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
“just because they haven’t dominated the adult market … doesn’t mean they won’t try for the teen market. as every research shows, the younger your smoking target market is, the better your chances are in really making huge money.”
in the same sense that just because those researches say so doesn’t mean they will try for the teen market. as you yourself pointed out with your previous posts, those researches were three decades ago. they were no longer reflective of the current situation where lawsuits abound in the tobacco industry.
and oh, it also astounds me that you would be astounded if a sane person rationalizes actions of tobacco companies. you can do better than that, mr. conde. stick to the issue. remember logic 101? it’s called fallacy.
by the way, no, i am not in the nicotine-delivery business as you call it. neither am i connected in any way to the tobacco industry. i am just trying to do what every sane person would do. that is, to do some research first
August 12th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
i didn’t say that just because those research were 30 years old doesn’t mean they’re useless. on the contrary, i brought them up precisely because the tobacco companies are still doing it. (and i’m not talking about legitimate marketing targeting teens, as you seem to be insisting, but devious and manipulative schemes like organizing a concert by bands popular with teenagers).
as far as i’m concerned, and knowing how evil big tobacco is, i think what they do — market to the young, circumvent the law — is indefensible. that you don’t seem to appreciate that, or even remotely conscious of that, is the astounding part in your comment and defense of big tobacco.
of course you’re not connected with the tobacco industry. you’re not so hot and bothered about my posts against them, right?
as far as research is concerned, did your research also come up with the fact that thousands of filipinos die each year due to tobacco-related illnesses? did it also yield information about, say, the huge lobby big tobacco has? in your research, did you also stumble upon the new tack by big tobacco to use the internet — websites, blogs, mailing lists, forums — to market their products as a way of getting around the restrictions?
or did your research yield the “fact” that smoking is good, that big tobacco is benign? because that is what you are saying.
and if you are so convinced about what you’re saying defending big tobacco, have some decency (not to mention balls) and identify yourself. because if you can’t, and you continue to foam in the mouth in this forum in defending philip morris, what you say will boil down to BS, lots of it.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
by the way, bong, what you said about philip morris only having 40 % of the market and that there’s still 60% to be focusing into. since you mentioned logic, that is neither here nor there. philip morris has not tapped that 60% not because for lack of effort or that they are lousy marketers. the reason is competition — that 60% is gobbled up by other tobacco companies. in this sense, philip morris is indeed desperate to eat into the market controlled by others. and marketing to teens (by way of organizing concerts, among others) is a way to do it.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Teka, di ba pwedeng bumili ka lang ng ilang packs (worth ng isang concert ticket), tapos wag mo sya i-smoke! Ibigay mo sa tito mong malakas mag-yosi!
Tapos, tsaka ka pumunta sa concert!
Di ba pwedeng music lang? Kadiri ang pulitika!!!!! :/
August 13th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
“or did your research yield the “fact” that smoking is good, that big tobacco is benign? because that is what you are saying.”
what i find fascinating about you, mr. conde, is your ability to put someone else’s words into another mouth. may i know when did i say that smoking is good? have the decency to at least read back my comments. because on the contrary, i quit smoking about 3 years ago because of its obvious ill-effects to my health. smoking is bad for everyone’s health, that’s a given.
and i fully agree with you that marketing to minors is indefensible. there’s no debate on that. but have Philip Morris done that in this particular Eraserheads issue or since the RA 9211 was passed by Congress? there’s not an ounce of evidence of it. because if there is, i’m sure our friends from DOH and FCTC Alliance would have already raised howl not just in media but in courts. but i doubt any will be found. as you yourself have posted, “the marketing code of philip morris emphasized the prohibition to sell cigarettes to minors or to advertise or promote to minors”.
as far as research is concerned, we all know those things you mentioned. they indeed do lobby. but what do they lobby about? with it, i would refer you back to my previous post. check the minutes of the hearings of Congress prior to crafting RA 9211.
and oh, if you very much believe that what i am saying are lots of BS just because i am not identifying myself, then why even bother replying with these comments?
August 13th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
“by the way, bong, what you said about philip morris only having 40 % of the market and that there’s still 60% to be focusing into. since you mentioned logic, that is neither here nor there. philip morris has not tapped that 60% not because for lack of effort or that they are lousy marketers. the reason is competition — that 60% is gobbled up by other tobacco companies. in this sense, philip morris is indeed desperate to eat into the market controlled by others. and marketing to teens (by way of organizing concerts, among others) is a way to do it.”
my point with the market share post is that there is still a lot to be captured in the adult smoker market alone. and the essence of competition is to lure an existing market to your product. yes, they may be desperate to eat into the market share of competition. but they are not desperate enough to market their products to minors.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
as i said, philip morris is doing the marketing to teens in a roundabout way. by organizing the eheads concert for one.
true, you did not say outright that smoking is good. and i said that essentially, by defending philip morris, what you are saying is tell us that smoking can’t be bad.
if you agree that smoking is bad for everyone, why bother defending philip morris?
and i’m replying to your comments because i can see you’re an intelligent reader. you engage me in a debate without calling me names. very different from the others out there.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
“but they are not desperate enough to market their products to minors.”
and you know this for a fact, bong?
how do you explain the eraserheads concert then, keeping in mind that the band remains extremely popular among teenagers and that a company would never pay millions to a group without expecting some dividends in return. are the teens who idolize the eraserheads mere collateral damage here?
August 31st, 2008 at 3:15 pm
[...] a huge paycheck for signing in the concert. then, the concert’s promoter, a tobacco company, received much flak from anti-tobacco groups who were lobbying against the promotion of the concert. read it here. the whole hoolabaloo even prompted the Department of Health to join the fray. there [...]