In the 20 years that we've published our annual list,

we've covered corporate villains, scoundrels, criminals and miscreants. We've reported on some really bad stuff - from Exxon's Valdez spill to Union Carbide and Dow's effort to avoid responsibility for the Bhopal disaster; from oil companies coddling dictators (including Chevron and CNPC, both profiled this year) to a bank (Riggs) providing financial services for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet; from oil and auto companies threatening the future of the planet by blocking efforts to address climate change to duplicitous tobacco companies marketing cigarettes around the world by associating their product with images of freedom, sports, youthful energy and good health. But we've never had a year like 2008.

( via ). [more inside]
posted by adamvasco on Nov 25, 2008 - 37 comments

How Much is a Human Life Worth? Read the smoke signals that it's nigh time for tort reform. In the newest bout of self-help jurisprudence, the "good" people of california have gone too far in awarding an obscene amount of money in a case against Philip Morris. Betty Bullock can now take her 28 billion and go shopping for half of Microsoft, or any other Fortune 500 company, if she's so inclined. Assuming that there is a bank in the land that can cash the check. Smoking my way to the bank.
posted by mr.abominable on Oct 4, 2002 - 25 comments

Smoke 'em if you can get 'em? Philip Morris' decision to support FDA regulation of cigarettes has smoke coming from between my ears trying to figure it out. Good, bad, victims of the cigarette tax money-grab?
posted by fncll on Jul 26, 2002 - 33 comments

Philip Morris sells Miller unit to South African firm for $5.6 billion, creating the world's No. 2 brewer. Does this mean I'll be able to get Castle Lager here in the U.S. when I have a braai?
posted by mad on May 30, 2002 - 4 comments

Philip Morris changing name to...Altria? According to this SF Chronicle story, Philip Morris is trying to distance itself from tobacco by changing its name to Altria Group. Rumor has it the name is short for "Alternate Reality," which is where PM executives think they're living. (link via NextDraft.)
posted by me3dia on Nov 16, 2001 - 22 comments

Smoking creates "indirect positive effects." A report from tobacco giant Philip Morris concluded that the Czech government saved money because of the "indirect positive effects" of the early deaths of cigarette-smokers. PM makes about 80 percent of the cigarettes smoked in the Czech Republic. Said a Philip Morris spokesman: "Tobacco is a controversial industry, but we are still an industry and sometimes we need some economic data on our industry."
posted by tranquileye on Jul 17, 2001 - 39 comments

Here are two of the anti-smoking commercials Philip Morris succeeded in getting taken off the air. (News story via Rebecca's Pocket. I'm still looking for the "Body Bags" spot; if you know how I can get it, let me know.)
posted by jjg on Feb 17, 2000 - 6 comments