Cases / Lobbying, PR and greenwashing · United States · 1953–2022
Hill & Knowlton, the Frank Statement and the TIRC
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
A public-relations firm ran the tobacco industry's research committee from 1953 and later worked for oil and plastics-industry clients and for the 2022 COP27 climate summit. The same agency name recurs across industries in the record.
448 estimateNewspapers that carried the 1954 Frank Statement advertisement
Estimated to have reached about 43 million people.
Estimated to have reached about 43 million people.
Status As of 2022: Hill & Knowlton handled COP27 communications while serving oil clients; more than 420 scientists asked it to drop them.
What?
A public-relations firm ran the tobacco industry's research committee and was later engaged by oil and plastics-industry clients and for a climate summit. Tobacco Tactics
Where?
United States (tobacco, plastics) and Egypt (COP27).
When?
1953 to 2022. Tobacco Tactics
Who?
Gained
- Hill & Knowlton — Engaged by the tobacco, oil and plastics industries and, in 2022, for COP27 communications.
Lost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
The 1954 advertisement said there was no proof of a link between cigarettes and lung cancer; the sources reviewed do not state the firm's own reasons for taking later clients. Tobacco Tactics
How?
The firm ran the TIRC, placed the Frank Statement in 448 newspapers, and served later clients on commission. Tobacco Tactics
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
In December 1953 the tobacco industry set up the Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC). The public-relations firm Hill & Knowlton ran it, and its founder John Hill helped plan the strategy with tobacco executives. In 1954 the committee's advertisement, known as the Frank Statement, appeared in 448 newspapers and is estimated to have reached about 43 million people.
The advertisement said there was no proof that cigarettes caused lung cancer and promised independent research. Through this structure the industry distributed more than 300 million dollars in research funding over about 40 years.
The firm's client list later extended beyond tobacco. According to the Center for International Environmental Law, as summarised by DeSmog, Hill & Knowlton worked for the oil industry from 1956. In 1974 it ran an April-to-November campaign for the vinyl chloride and PVC producers' committee of the Plastics Industry Association.
In 2022 Egypt gave the communications of the COP27 climate summit to the agency. Its clients at the time included ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, Saudi Aramco and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, whose secretariat it ran, and Coca-Cola, a summit sponsor. More than 420 scientists called on the firm to drop its fossil-fuel clients. The agency is now part of the WPP holding company.
- 1953Tobacco industry sets up the TIRC; Hill & Knowlton runs it
- 1954Frank Statement advertisement appears in 448 newspapers
- 1956Hill & Knowlton begins work for the oil industry (per CIEL / DeSmog)
- 1974Hill & Knowlton campaign for the vinyl chloride and PVC producers' committee, April-November
- 2022Hill & Knowlton handles COP27 communications; more than 420 scientists ask it to drop fossil-fuel clients
What was said
Claims, in the words of those who made them.
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Should an agency with fossil-fuel clients run a climate summit's communications?
Researchers
More than 420 scientists
Called on Hill & Knowlton to drop its fossil-fuel clients.
How it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
- The Frank Statement said there was no proof that cigarettes cause lung cancer and promised independent researchTobacco industry advertisement, 1954 · Tobacco Tactics
Recorded
- The TIRC was run by Hill & Knowlton; the industry distributed more than 300 million dollars in research funding over about 40 years through it.
- The firm worked for the oil industry from 1956 (CIEL, as summarised by DeSmog).
- The firm ran a 1974 campaign for the vinyl chloride and PVC producers' committee of the Plastics Industry Association.
- In 2022 the firm handled COP27 communications while its clients included ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, Saudi Aramco and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.
Who gained
Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.
Reached nature or the ground
Not published
No figure published.
Gained elsewhere
Not totalled
Research funding distributed through the TIRC structure over about 40 years> $300m
Currency: USD · Window: About 1953-1993. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What nature saw
Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
Sectors served by the same agency
Tobacco, oil, plastics, climate summit
1953, 1956, 1974, 2022
Independent ecological evaluation
Not applicable
The record concerns communications work, not a site or ecosystem
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Accounts
- Disputed Should an agency with fossil-fuel clients run a climate summit's communications?
Record
- Unclear Whether Hill & Knowlton also worked for the Chemical Manufacturers Association was not verified; what is confirmed is the 1974 work for the Plastics Industry Association's committee.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the December 1953 meeting between Hill & Knowlton and tobacco company presidents, and the TIRC office being located one floor below the firm.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that Hill & Knowlton established the TIRC rather than managed it.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not give the agency's fees from any of the clients named.
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable: the record concerns an agency's client work, and the sources reviewed describe no end to the practice.
Who paid?
Not established in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Company or project
Press and investigations
Communities and civil society
- Tobacco Industry Research CommitteeTobacco Tactics ·
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Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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