From: anne@tobaccodocuments.org
Date: Sun, 11/20/05
Anne LandmanPosting Date: Sunday, November 20, 2005
Archetype Project Summary
Company/Source: Philip Morris
Document Date: Aug 1991
Length: 15 pages
Bates No. 2075842890/2904
URL of this Posting: http://tobaccodocuments.org/landman/2075842890-2904.html
Document Images Only: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vlx52c00
This document is key in understanding why Philip Morris is secure in going
from actively pursuing the youth market to declaring, extensively and through
ubiquitous advertising campaigns, that the company doesn't want kids to smoke.
In 1991, Carolyn Levy (then of PM's Marketing Research department)
contracted with a company called Rapaille Associates to study the emotional
reasons why people smoke, presumably so the company could better leverage these
emotions in advertising and promotions. Rapaille interviewed people about their
first experiences with smoking. (Many of the people he interviewed reported that
these experiences occurred when they were between 4 and 9 years old). Rapaille
noted that typically the first experience with smoking involved seeing an
admired adult do it, feeling that that they were excluded from the activity, and
that they strongly wanted to be included. Rapaille ultimately linked smoking
with adult initiation rituals, risk taking, bonding with peers and the need for
kids to feel like they belong to a group and can partake in an "adult activity."
The study states
"The first imprinting of smoking is that adults do it, and I'm excluded...A
critical element at this stage is the fact that the individual is on the
'outside,' excluded..."
The report makes recommendations to PM's marketing department based on these
findings:
"Recommendations based on the Archetype:
a.. Stress that smoking is for adults only
b.. Make it difficult for minors to obtain cigarettes
c.. Continue having smoking perceived as a legitimate, albeit morally
ambiguous adult activity. Smoking should occupy the middle ground between
activities that everyone can partake in vs. activities that only the fringe of
society embraces.
d.. Stress that smoking is dangerous. Smoking is for people who like to take
risks, who are not afraid of taboos, who take life as an adventure to prove
themselves.
e.. Emphasize the ritualistic elements of smoking, particularly fire and
smoke.
f.. Emphasize the individualism/conformity dichotomy Stress the popularity
of a brand, that choosing it will reinforce your identity AND your integration
into the group.
This explains why PM supports--and advertises widely that it supports--
restricting sales cigarette sales to minors and moving cigarettes out of reach
of kids. Aside from the now well-known political advantages that PM's "youth
smoking prevention" programs confer, this explains why PM feels comfortable in
advertising its "kids shouldn't smoke" campaigns. The company knows that the
more they can project a finger-wagging, forbidden-fruit, "adults-only"-type
message about smoking, the more they will stimulate kids to smoke.
Carolyn Levy, the PM scientist who headed the Archetype Project (and who had
experience studying both addiction and youth marketing), was appointed the first
head of PM's youth smoking prevention department in 1993.
-------------------------------------
Notes
This report was the basis for a presentation on the Archetype Project in which
each slide/page bore the Philip Morris crest. You can see the final PM
presentation here: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/oeh83c00
Here is Rapaille's contract agreement with Philip Morris (Carolyn Levy) to
perform the Archetype studies: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/rlx52c00
Other documents bearing the name of this project are marked "privileged" and
can not be viewed.
-----------------------------------------------------
Quotes
An archetype if a "mental highway" (neuronal pathway) which has been imprinted
at an early age and is used each time we perform an action. The imprinting
experience imparts the significant meaning that an object or action will have
for an individual.
The first imprinting of smoking is that adults do it, and I'm excluded.
Usually these are significant adults, typically a parent or grandparent who is
respected and is associated with warmth, strength and/or protection. Adults are
seen smoking when they're socializing (especially in the kitchen), having fun,
or relaxing. A critical element at this stage is the fact that the individual is
on the "outside," excluded...
The second step is a type of initiation/rite of passage and may occur before
or during adolescence. Typically two or more friends steal cigarettes from a
parent and sneak away to a private place to smoke. More often than not they
either get sick or punished (or both) as a result. Here we see a transition from
"excluded" to "included." The newly formed group becomes bound together by their
shared risk-taking...
Important elements at this stage include:
a.. an adult activity
b.. a product which is hard to get your hands on
c.. a behavior which is morally ambiguous/an "adult secret"
d.. engaging in the activity as part of a group/to belong to the group
a.. going to a secret place in order to hide your behavior
b.. --risk of getting caught/punished -
c.. -getting "sick"
...As an adult, smoking reactivates this mental highway. Unconsciously it
reactivates the strong emotion related to the initiation into adulthood. Does it
do this each time we smoke? Yes, the same mental highways are used, but not all
of the emotion is experienced...
[From page 5]:
Recommendation based on the Archetype:
--Stress that smoking is for adults only --Make it difficult for minors to
obtain cigarettes --Continue having smoking perceived as a legitimate, albeit
morally ambiguous adult activity. Smoking should occupy the middle ground
between activities that everyone can partake in vs. activities that only the
fringe of society embraces.
--Stress that smoking is dangerous. Smoking is for people who like to take
risks, who are not afraid of taboos, who take live as an adventure to prove
themselves. --Emphasize the ritualistic elements of smoking, particularly fire
and smoke. --Emphasize the individualism/conformity dichotomy Stress the
popularity of a brand, that choosing it will reinforce your identity AND your
integration into the group.
--Because of the American culture, rest or reward should always be in
anticipation of the next action, not a final reward. --American identity should
be the core...growing, searching and striving.
------------------------
Company
Philip Morris
Author
Presumed author, Rapaille Associates
Recipient
Presumed recipient, Philip Morris
Region
United States
Type
REPT, REPORT, OTHER BIBL, BIBLIOGRAPHY
Litigation
Feda/Produced
Named Person
Feinhandler, Sherwin J. Ph.D. (Behavioral/Social consultant to PM & tobacco
industry)
Assisted PM by describing the social benefits of smoking.
Kroc, R. -founder of McDonalds restaurant chain
Maisonneuve
Mausner
Muller
Nucci
Platt
Robb
Robbins
Sarbin
Selye, H.
Stepney
Varenne
Vontroschke
Weir
Wetterer
Xxgreg
Operation/Project
Archetype Project
Named Organization
McDonalds
Subject
youth
youth access
youth initiation
Youth Smoking Prevention Programs (Industry-sponsored youth smoking prevention
programs)
youth risk behavior surveillance
Anne Landman
Tobacco Document Research and Consulting
3301 Irving
San Francisco, CA 94122
(970) 216-9842
anne@tobaccodocuments.org
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