All tobacco dangerous: Imperial Tobacco CEO testifies in Quebec class-action lawsuit

The president of Canada’s largest tobacco manufacturer admitted Tuesday that all tobacco products are dangerous and none is comparatively safer than other brands. Marie Polet, president and CEO of Imperial Tobacco Canada, testified in Superior Court that even low-tar cigarettes are as risky as other brands. “We are selling a product that is a product that can cause serious and in some cases fatal diseases, and it is a product that we have to manage very responsibly,” she said. She is testifying at the $27-billion class-action tobacco lawsuit launched by 1.8 million Quebec smokers against Canada’s three major tobacco companies. The plaintiffs allege they have become seriously ill because of smoking and have been unable to quit. Polet, a native of Germany, has been in the tobacco marketing business for more than 30 years and last November became the chief executive of Imperial Tobacco. She claimed in her testimony that she was unaware of what happened at Imperial before her arrival even though she had worked for many years for Imperial’s owner, British American Tobacco. Under questioning from lawyer Bruce Johnston, acting for the plaintiffs, Polet testified that it is “part of our fundamental principles” at Imperial Tobacco not to market products to people under 18 and not to try to persuade non-smokers to smoke. “We do not want to convince anyone who is a non-smoker to start smoking,” she said. She said Imperial’s marketing is designed only to take market share away from its competitors. “Our business is about creating value for our shareholders and our business is about taking away share from our competition,” she said. “It is not about convincing anybody to start smoking, whether young or older. “ She said that nobody in the tobacco business wants to expand the market. At the same time, she claimed that smoking “adds value” to smokers’ lives. “I believe it does add value to our consumers,” she said. “Consumers must be adults. They must be clearly informed about the risks. Given those conditions, I believe that a lot of smokers in Canada and around the world do enjoy smoking.” She also testified that Imperial does not conduct market research on young people. However, documents indicate that Imperial Tobacco began targeting young people between 15 and 19 years old in 1975 with marketing campaigns. One Imperial document dated 1975 and titled “Du Maurier and Young People”, has a section headed “Some Hypotheses About How to Best Appeal to Young People.” It then lists 11 suggestions. These include showing “a male and female couple associated with a particular activity” and the “couple should be left shadowy and in the background so that there are no discernible clues to their looks, or age.” The activity should “provide an undercurrent of excitement” and should appeal to “young people (particularly boys).” “The activity itself should result in the impression of a peaceful, tranquil, ‘free’ sort of feeling, not a hard, frenetic, sweaty, tiresome sort of feeling (thus sailing would be better than motor boat racing, bicycling better than jogging, etc.),” the document states. Other marketing documents indicate that tobacco companies followed what they called “starters,” or new smokers, as well as “switchers,” defined as smokers who had changed to another brand.