Articles

Ben Stevens has been on the Board of British American Tobacco (BAT) since March 2008, and was appointed the company’s Finance Director in April 2008.1 In February 2019 it was announced that Stevens will be retiring from BAT on 5 August 2019.1 Long-Standing Career at BAT Stevens joined BAT in 1990 as Regional Finance Controller responsible…

Ben McArdle was the Campaigns Manager for the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association from July 2011 until October 2012.4 Previously, he worked for the lobbying companies Indigo Public Affairs and Financial Dynamics, and also for NHS London and then NHS South East London. At NHS London he appears to have been responsible for gathering GP’s views about proposed models…

Bell Pottinger was a British public relations company, specialising in “managing reputations”.7 In September 2017, the London-based firm was put into administration in the wake of a scandal over a campaign to stir up racial tensions in South Africa.8 Earlier, Bell Pottinger had been expelled from the British PR body the Public Relations and Communications Association…

In 2011, in Germany, Philip Morris International (PMI) launched a new mass media campaign to promote their re-vamped Marlboro brand. In 2012, PMI commented to investors that “Innovation is not only about launching new products. Importantly, it is also about thinking differently and innovating in the way we market our brands to adult smokers and trade partners.”29 ‘Marlboro…

BXL is a consulting firm that has worked with British American Tobacco (BAT) on its “social reporting process” and CSR initiative in Brussels, including the BATresponsibility.eu website.61 It was co-founded in 2004 by the former EU commissioner for health and consumer protection, Pavel Telička, an example of a Revolving Door Case. BXL provides consultancy in EU…

Almos Molnar worked as European Union (EU) Corporate Affairs Manager at Imperial Tobacco from 2014 to 2016. In April 2016 he took up a position as Account Executive at public relations firm Instinctif Partners in Brussels to work on environment, energy and tobacco issues.66 Lobbying on EU Tax Directive In June 2016, when Philip Morris…

In January 2000 the Guardian newspaper, working with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, published an investigation into British American Tobacco‘s facilitation of tobacco smuggling, based on 11,000 documents from the tobacco archive. Historical “Benefiting from Black Marketeering on a Massive Scale” The documents revealed how “British American Tobacco condoned tax evasion and exploited the smuggling of billions of…

In general, tobacco companies are reluctant to publish any details on the causes and organisations they support. In 2013, the issue of financial contributions to lobby groups and political campaigns, was raised at the AGM of British American Tobacco (BAT). In response to questions by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), BAT provided the following information on its involvement…

Axel Gietz is the Global Director of Corporate Affairs at Imperial Tobacco.4 He has held this post since 2012. Background Gietz previously worked for other tobacco companies, including RJ Reynolds, Japan Tobacco International (JTI)89 and British American Tobacco (BAT).4 He has a history of putting forward controversial arguments towards tobacco and public health,…

Tax Rises Lead to Smuggling? A common tactic of the tobacco industry, in Australia and elsewhere, is to claim that tax rises, advertising bans and plain (standardised) packaging will lead to increased tobacco smuggling. “These arguments routinely seek common ground with government concerns by exaggerating the level of illicit tobacco trade in Australia. They also distract from…