| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
|---|---|
| August 8, 1996 | Lucinda Wykle-Rosenberg |
| 617/742-4583 or 617/823-0389 |
INFACT, a national corporate watchdog organization, will be in San Diego to expose and challenge the undue influence of Philip Morris in the upcoming elections. Philip Morris is a leading underwriter of the Republican National Convention, and a corporate sponsor of key fundraisers: a "Victory Train" scheduled to arrive in San Diego on August 10, a California Beach Party on August 11, and Kraft Family Fun Day at the San Diego Zoo on August 14.
At the Beach Party, INFACT is organizing a mock volleyball game featuring the "Marlboro PAC" vs. children on August 11 at Mariner's Point in Mission Bay at 11:30 a.m.
Philip Morris is the #1 soft money contributor to the Republican and Democratic parties from 1991 to 1995. They led the tobacco industry to a record $4.1 million in overall political contributions in 1995, and more than $1 million in PAC money to Republicans and Democrats in the first quarter of 1996. INFACT inducted Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco into an influence-peddling Hall of Shame earlier this year.
Philip Morris also lurks behind its more respectable food businesses to expand its political reach. For example, Kraft is a major corporate underwriter of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month.
INFACT will bring the Human Toll of Tobacco, a 200-foot banner with photos of people who died or suffer from tobacco-related illnesses, to San Diego for a demonstration against Philip Morris's efforts to defeat FDA regulations on tobacco marketing to kids. The event is co-sponsored by the American Lung Association of San Diego on August 12 from 4:30 - 5:15 p.m. in the designated "free speech" area at 4th and K across from the Convention Center. "Philip Morris's 'free speech' will not be confined because a giant corporation can buy access to our politicians while the public's voice is restricted. This is not how a democracy is supposed to work," says Kelle Louaillier, Campaign Director at INFACT.
INFACT is a non-partisan organization that has mobilized people for 19 years to stop life-threatening abuses by transnational corporations and increase their accountability to people around the world. INFACT organized the successful GE and Nestle Boycotts, and now directs the Tobacco Industry Boycott targeting Philip Morris's key food brands, Kraft, Post, Maxwell House, and RJR's Nabisco products.