INFACT, a Boston, Mass.-based national corporate watchdog organization, and Adbusters, a periodical that addresses the manipulation of the public through the media, plan to run a national advertisement in the December 2000 issue of Harper's magazine, one of Philip Morris' main media markets.

According to INFACT Executive Director Kathryn Mulvey, the ad is meant to be a counterweight to the extensive public-relations campaign that Philip Morris has been conducting. "Philip Morris's ads have dedicated themselves to touting the philanthropic endeavors of the corporation and the subsidiaries which make up its conglomerate," said Mulvey.

From 1998 to 1999, Philip Morris' corporate-image advertising increased by over 800 percent. In the first half of 2000, the company has spent $142 million on corporate advertising. "In essence, the ads constitute a subtle attempt to trick consumers into believing that Philip Morris has always been a benign member of the corporate world, concerned with issues like hunger and domestic violence, even though the corporation spends 1.5 times as much publicizing its so-called 'good works' than it gives away," noted Mulvey.

Harper's magazine, which is dedicated to encouraging "national discussion of topics not yet explored in mainstream media," has carried Philip Morris's ads for years.

The ad being run by INTACT and Adbusters displays eight consumer products, including Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Maxwell House coffee and Post cereal, all of which lie under the corporate umbrella of Philip Morris. The ad explains that by purchasing such products, consumers are unwittingly financing the world's premier tobacco producer and creator of the Marlboro Man.

"Even in the face of Philip Morris's public relations onslaught, which is more insidious than ever, the public climate is shifting. People are demanding that the tobacco giant be held accountable," said Mulvey. "The Harper's ad both mobilizes consumers to stop buying their food from a tobacco corporation and also serves to challenge Harper's to join such ranks as Knight-Ridder and the New York Times" -- both news corporations that have taken steps to restrict or prohibit tobacco advertising.

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