The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To examine how and why British American Tobacco (BAT) adopted a corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda in seeking to undermine the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Methodology: Analysis of corporate documents made publicly available following litigation

Results: CSR holds significant strategic value to companies engaged in controversial sectors, particularly where their conduct in developing countries has attracted criticism. While transnational tobacco corporations (TTCs) have broadly embraced this agenda, BAT has made the most extensive commitment and established itself as a leading actor in the CSR field. Successful CSR initiatives hold the promise of rehabilitating TTCs in the eyes of public opinion and financial markets, but documents demonstrate that BAT's interest has been primarily driven by the need to prevent the spread of tobacco control legislation across key emerging markets. The World Health Organization's initiative in negotiating its first international public health treaty, the FCTC, was rapidly identified within BAT as “an unprecedented challenge” to the ongoing global expansion of TTCs. In seeking to undermine the FCTC's development, BAT adopted a twin track strategy. The first element consisted of traditional lobbying activities, but the more innovative aspect was its commitment to CSR in pursuit of more effective “reputation management”. This stimulated a wide ranging review of BAT's activities, designed to generate more favourable perceptions among key stakeholders rather than to amend corporate conduct. This strategy is of broad and continuing significance to the implementation of the FCTC and a threat to the continuing development of global tobacco control.