Public Health Advocacy Institute

For Many Living With Limb Loss, “Open Happiness” Doesn’t Ring True

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing /

by Cara Wilking, JD As part of its 2012 Olympic Games marketing blitz, the Coca-Cola Company has assembled a “Coca-Cola 8-pack of Athletes” to  “serve as Coca-Cola \’Ambassadors of Active Living’ to help encourage and inspire people to lead active, balanced lives.”[1] This group includes Jessica Long, a 2012 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team nominee.[2] Ms. Long was born […]

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Health Groups Ask Federal Trade Commission to Investigate Merck’s Use of “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” Characters to Market Children’s Claritin®

Feet To The Fire, Injury Reduction, Press Release /

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Cara Wilking, 617-373-5699 Today, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, joined by 10 other organizations, sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking that it investigate Merck & Co. Inc.’s  Madagascar 3-themed marketing campaign for its flagship pediatric

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PHAI’s Friedman and Gottlieb Co-author: “Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?” in PLoS Medicine

Food Beverage Marketing, Press Release, Publications, Tobacco /

PHAI senior staff attorney Lissy Friedman and executive director Mark Gottlieb collaborated with Lori Dorfman, Andrew Cheyne and Asiya Wadud of the Berkeley Media Studies Group to produce this article published today in PLoS Medicine. Soda companies’ PR campaigns are bad for health: Health advocates need to organize strong public health campaigns to educate the

PHAI’s Friedman and Gottlieb Co-author: “Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?” in PLoS Medicine Read More »

Altria’s Annual Shareholders Meeting in Richmond, Virginia: Retirement provides no change in the company’s conduct

Tobacco /

By Edward L. Sweda, Jr. In January 2012, Altria Group, Inc. announced that CEO Michael E. Szymanczyk  would retire after the completion of the company’s Annual Shareholders Meeting in Richmond, Virginia on May 17.  Mr. Szymancyk worked for the company in various capacities for 23 years.  Michael J. Barrington was named to succeed him as

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The Hidden Energy Costs of School Beverage Vending Machines

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing /

PHAI has produced a fact sheet detailing state-by-state electricity costs of traditional cold beverage vending machines. A traditional cold beverage vending machine consumes an estimated 3000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year (kWh/yr). That translates to an average annual energy cost of $313 per machine. Even more energy efficient machines still use between 1200 and 1500 kWh/yr. When multiplied

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Reynolds American Inc. in 2012: “Progress” in tobacco litigation is alleged five weeks after U.S. Supreme Court leaves the company with “massive liability…with no end in sight.”

Tobacco /

By Edward L. Sweda, Jr. Three key issues were taken up at the 2012 Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) Annual Shareholders Meeting in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on May 3rd. First, the issue drawing the most public attention was the company’s dealings with groups representing farm workers who toil under dangerous conditions and provide the tobacco that

Reynolds American Inc. in 2012: “Progress” in tobacco litigation is alleged five weeks after U.S. Supreme Court leaves the company with “massive liability…with no end in sight.” Read More »

PepsiCo Unfairly and Deceptively Targets Teens with Its “Win from Within” Gatorade Campaign

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing, Uncategorized /

The Public Health Advocacy Institute has submitted a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting that it use its authority under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to investigate PepsiCo’s current “Win from Within” commercial television advertisement and commercial website for its Gatorade sports drink product featuring Michael Jordan’s performance during game

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Supreme Court Rejects Key Tobacco Industry Appeal Leaving “Massive Liability . . . with no End in Sight.”

News, Press Release, Tobacco /

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:  Edward L. Sweda 617-373-8462 Tobacco companies face the prospect of having to pay billions of dollars in liability to Florida smokers after the U.S. Supreme Court today denied Reynolds American’s petition for certiorari in the case of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Mathilde Martin, No. 11-754. The company had appealed a

Supreme Court Rejects Key Tobacco Industry Appeal Leaving “Massive Liability . . . with no End in Sight.” Read More »

Canadian Class Action Lawsuits Seek Billions of Dollars from Major Tobacco Companies

Leave a Comment / News, Tobacco /

Two historic class action lawsuits that were filed in 1998 finally reached trial on March 12, 2012 in Montreal.  The cases, Cecilia Letourneau v. JTI_Macdonald Corp., Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. and Conseil quebecois sur le tabac et la santé and Jean-Yves Blais v. JTI-Macdonald Corp., Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.

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Jury in Miami Assesses $25 Million in Punitive Damages Against Tobacco Firm in an Engle Progeny Trial

Press Release, Tobacco /

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Edward L. Sweda, Jr. (617) 373-8462 A Florida state jury today assessed $25 million in punitive damages against Lorillard Tobacco Co. for its reprehensible misconduct involving the lung cancer death of Coleman Alexander.  His widow Dorothy, a retired nurse who brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the company, was awarded $20

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