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Some antismoking groups are pressing for the variety to be taken off shelves. They say menthol is particularly enticing to blacks,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], who have long been a target of menthol marketing campaigns, and to adolescent smokers.
Lorillard,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the nation’s third-largest cigarette producer, is making preemptive strikes against any possible ban. Companies frequently mount aggressive public-relations and lobbying offensives when under regulatory threat. But the Greensboro, N.C.,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], company’s efforts to stave off a ban are more urgent than usual. Given its dependence on Newport, it faces a potential “doomsday scenario if menthol gets banned and they can’t keep a majority of their customers,” says Philip Gorham, an analyst with Morningstar Inc.
In addition to arguing that menthols are no more addictive than regular cigarettes, the company is courting allies, including some African-American groups,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], to help make its case. Through its public-relations network,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Lorillard has enlisted a consultant to get prominent blacks to espouse an anti-ban message in the media.
Mr. Alford of the black chamber group said his organization is “no more” a front group for the tobacco industry “than I would say [the others] are front groups for antismoking lobbyists.”
Mr. Innis said his group, CORE,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], hasn’t accepted contributions from tobacco companies in the past five years or so and that critics should “be careful about casting aspersions.”
Mr. Lee, head of Noble, as the Alexandria, Va., law-enforcement group is known, didn’t respond to interview requests or questions about whether his organization has received funding from Lorillard or other tobacco companies.
Noble has received financial support from Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris USA, since at least the early 1990s, says Brendan McCormick, a spokesman for the tobacco giant. “We share the interest in working to eliminate [illegal cigarette sales] that many of these law-enforcement organizations also have.”
Lorillard declined to say whether it has made financial contributions to Noble or other groups that have publicly opposed a menthol ban. The company says it also has collaborated on menthol with groups that have no racial or ethnic affiliation, including Americans for Limited Government.
“Over time, the company has been a member of organizations such as trade groups, chambers of commerce and other organizations,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],” says Lorillard’s Mr. Perry. “Given what is at stake,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it’s only natural that we support them in their firmly held beliefs.”