Campaign to counter a deteriorating consumer market: Philip Morris's Project Sunrise.
OBJECTIVE
From 1997 to 2000, Philip Morris implemented Project Sunrise. This paper discusses the impact of this project on national and Philip Morris's cigarette unit sales, public opinion about smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke, and national prevalence trends for tobacco use.


METHODS
A qualitative archival content analysis of Project Sunrise from 1997 to 2000, and a descriptive statistical analysis of cigarette unit sales and operating profits, acceptability of smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke, and national prevalence trends for tobacco use from 1996 to 2006.


METHODS
Qualitative data sources related to Project Sunrise found on WebCat, Pubmed.com, LexisNexis Academic and Philip Morris's website, and archived tobacco industry documents were analysed using NVivo Version 9.0. A descriptive statistical analysis of cigarette unit sales, public opinion about smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke, and national prevalence trends for tobacco use was undertaken.


RESULTS
Project Sunrise was a high-level strategic corporate plan to maintain profits that included four possible scenarios resulting in seven interwoven strategies. However, national prevalence rates for tobacco use declined, sales of national and Philip Morris cigarettes declined, operating profits remained at substantially lower levels after 2000 from 2001 to 2006, and a large majority of Americans agreed that there were significant health dangers associated with smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke.


CONCLUSIONS
The impact of Project Sunrise, including countering the anti-tobacco movement, was less than successful in the USA.
Department of Political Science, University of Oklahoma, 455 West Lindsey, Room 205, Norman, OK 73019, USA. mgivel@ou.edu
M
M
Givel
D001294:Attitude to Health; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D019460:Tobacco Industry / Q000191:economics*; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000191:economics*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution