1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: When you look behind the veil, you find that it's 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: the same companies, it's the same firms. Often it's the 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:12,120 Speaker 1: same people providing these services. And nowhere is that clearer than, 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: for example, with the role of Hill and Nolton. 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 2: Remember a couple of weeks ago, I said I'd found 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 2: some new leads that were relevant to this season. One 7 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 2: of them was the guy you just heard talking there, 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 2: Carol Muffett, who runs the Center for International Environmental Law. 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 2: I already knew about Carroll and his organization, of course, 10 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 2: but what I didn't know was that he had quite 11 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,239 Speaker 2: a bit of information and documentation that has never been 12 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 2: published on the various public relations firms that have worked 13 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 2: with the fossil fuel industry, and specifically with both the 14 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 2: fossil fuel industry and tobacco. 15 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,480 Speaker 1: Hilln Nolton, which is widely recognized as a lead advocate 16 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: for the tobacco industry and the tobacco wars. Hilla Nolton, 17 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: was simultaneously and from a very early stage, also actively 18 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: representing array of oil and gas companies on issues of 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: concern to them, and often the same account leads on 20 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 1: the tobacco campaigns were also account leads for oil companies. 21 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 2: As we learned in earlier episodes this season, these two 22 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 2: industries have a long history of influencing each other, and 23 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 2: at the center of that influence are a few key spinmasters. 24 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 2: There the guys were focusing on this season. I'm Amy 25 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 2: Westervelt and this is Drilled, Season three, the mad Men 26 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 2: of Climate Denial. Today we're going to dig into the 27 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 2: story of John Hill, founder of Hill and Menton. John 28 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 2: Hill was born on a farm in Indiana in eighteen ninety. 29 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 2: His grandfather had been wealthy, but his father lost all 30 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 2: the family's money in a series of business deals gone wrong, 31 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 2: and Hill would spend the rest of his life chasing 32 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 2: the company and approval of rich men. Like a lot 33 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 2: of our other mad men, he started his career as 34 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 2: a journalist, but unlike the others, he seems to have 35 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 2: been fairly good at it, while they each spent a 36 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 2: year or two struggling to make journalism happen. Hill was 37 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 2: a financial and business reporter for seventeen years before he 38 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 2: got into the pr game. He even started a couple 39 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 2: of newspapers himself, although he struggled to keep them afloat. 40 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 2: Some things never change. His first foray into pr came 41 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 2: in nineteen twenty in Ohio when he took a gig 42 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 2: creating a newsletter that Cleveland's Union Trust Company wanted to 43 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 2: send out to local executives. By this time, he was 44 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,639 Speaker 2: the financial editor of a steel industry trade magazine because Ohio. 45 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 2: These jobs put him in regular contact with executives, who 46 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 2: complained to him constantly that most reporters were inept at numbers. 47 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 2: So introduced him to a lot of influencers and executives 48 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 2: in the area, and eventually Hill saw a niche that 49 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 2: he could fill helping companies explain themselves to reporters who 50 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 2: didn't get it quite as well as he did. Hill 51 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 2: opened up his own firm in nineteen twenty seven, with 52 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 2: Union Trust and Otis Steele as his first clients. Because 53 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 2: Hill was well liked by local executives, word spread fast, 54 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 2: and within a couple months he built an impressive roster. 55 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 2: It included United Alloy Steel, Republic Steel, and Standard Oil 56 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 2: of Ohio. The Standard Oil account was an important win 57 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 2: for Hill because guess what, he was a huge Ivy 58 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 2: Lee fan, our first featured Madman. Lee may have tapped 59 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 2: Edward Burneize as his successor, but John Hill was probably 60 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 2: the more natural fit for that role. Hill hated how 61 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 2: flashy Berneise and many of the other pr guys of 62 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 2: his day were. He preferred Lee's distinguished Southern gentleman stick, 63 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 2: and he emulated it. Like Lee, he preferred to stay 64 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 2: behind the scenes, although Hill took it to an extreme, 65 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 2: almost never appearing in the press. When he did show 66 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 2: up in public, it was always in a conservative suit, 67 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 2: clean shaven hair, slicked back, wire rimmed glasses. But just 68 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 2: when his business was starting to take off. 69 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 3: The tremendous crowds which you see gathered outside the Stock 70 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 3: Exchange are due to the greatest crash in the history 71 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 3: of the New York Stock Exchange and market prices. 72 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,119 Speaker 2: Hill's steel and oil clients whether the financial storm Oka 73 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 2: and Republic Steel had just helped to score the firm 74 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 2: a whale. The American Iron and Steel Institute, the trade 75 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 2: group for the whole industry, They requested that Hill and 76 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 2: Nolton open up a New York branch near their headquarters 77 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 2: in the Empire State Building. That same month, Franklin Delano 78 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:47,679 Speaker 2: Roosevelt took office. 79 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 4: I my well do a new deal for the American Paper. 80 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 2: Hill hated the new deal, and so most of his clients. 81 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 2: Standard Oil had him write up an advertorial assuring people 82 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 2: American business would be okay, and his steel clients had 83 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 2: the firm cranking out pamphlets emphasizing the great relationship between 84 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 2: steel workers and their managers. The reality, of course, was 85 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,600 Speaker 2: that steel workers and their bosses had been fighting for 86 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 2: a long time, and America's big steel companies had done 87 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 2: everything they could to repress unionization. As the largest industry 88 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 2: in the country and the largest employer, the steel industry 89 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 2: kind of viewed itself as the last defense against unionization, 90 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 2: a protector of American business, defender of bosses everywhere. They 91 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 2: were helped in their efforts by near constant concern about 92 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 2: creeping communism in the US, starting with the nineteen nineteen 93 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 2: Red Scare and continuing for decades. Anti union pamphlets Helen 94 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 2: Nolton made for Republic Steel highlighted how union shops actually 95 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 2: infringed on workers' rights. A closed union shop denies the 96 00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 2: right of the individual worker to make his own choice 97 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 2: as to whether he wishes to belong to a union. 98 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 2: It's the exact same line you see in anti union 99 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 2: ads today. Another Hellenal client, the National Association of Manufacturers, 100 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 2: one of the earliest industry trade groups, went beyond pamphlets 101 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 2: to sponsor a weekly pro business, anti New deal radio 102 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 2: drama called The American Family Robinson. 103 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 5: It's time to join the American Family Robinson again in 104 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 5: Birch Fall. 105 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 6: But one thing this army situation ought to get credit 106 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 6: for is bringing everybody face to face with the call fax. 107 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 6: That's right, and in order to remind the country is 108 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 6: something more specific. It's only business and industry that can 109 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 6: provide soldiers and sailors with the proper equipment. Sure, that's 110 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 6: what I say. 111 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 2: But after more than a decade of suppression, the labor 112 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 2: movement was gaining steam again. A few years after opening 113 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 2: his firm's New York office, John Hell faced his first 114 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 2: big challenge in pr Just like with his hero Ivy Lee, 115 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 2: it came in the form of a violent labor strike. 116 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 2: Steel Workers were starting to ban together by nineteen thirty six, 117 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 2: forming the Steel Workers Organizing Committee within one of the 118 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 2: country's biggest unions, the CIO. This officially freaked steel bosses out. 119 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 2: The American Iron and Steel Institute put Helen Nolton on 120 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 2: the case, and they wrote up full page ads with 121 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 2: a manifesto for the industry. The ads suggested that outside 122 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 2: agitators had coerced employees into joining the union. On the 123 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 2: last day of June and the first day of July 124 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty six, the Trade Group sponsored full page ads 125 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 2: in three hundred eighty two newspapers in thirty four states, 126 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 2: but the unions persisted. In nineteen thirty seven, US Steel 127 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 2: agreed to recognize the unions and negotiate a contract that 128 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 2: made it more difficult for the other companies to resist. 129 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 2: But there was one holdout, Little Steel, an umbrella group 130 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 2: that included all the smaller independent steel companies led by 131 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 2: a man named Tom Girdler, president of Republic Steel, Helen 132 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 2: Nolton's client. They refused to have any sort of contract 133 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 2: with a union, and then in May nineteen thirty seven, 134 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 2: Girdler was elected president of the trade group. Apparently by 135 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 2: this point he had been stockpiling weapons for months, planning 136 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 2: on some kind of armed battle with the union. Later 137 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 2: that month, a strike began at the Republic Steel plant 138 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 2: in Chicago. 139 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 5: Armed strikers and armed police in front of a South 140 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 5: Chicago steel plant, tear gas and clubs and bullets, casting 141 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 5: an ugly cloud over an American scene, ten people dead 142 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 5: and ninety people injured because tempers on both sides had 143 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 5: overcome reason. 144 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,239 Speaker 2: The union quickly braided the event the Memorial Day massacre. 145 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 2: They held a mass funeral in Chicago attended by hundreds 146 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 2: of working class rusts ccidents. Then another riot broke out 147 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 2: at another Republic plant, this time in Youngstown, Ohio. The 148 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 2: FDR administration was having none of this. By October, the 149 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 2: National Labor Relations Board had ordered the companies to reinstate 150 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 2: more than seven thousand workers with backpay. Then the Senate 151 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 2: launched investigations into the steel boss's methods because of Hill's 152 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 2: involvement in pushing anti union messages and ads and newspapers. 153 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 2: He was caught up in this investigation too. Senator Bob 154 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 2: Laffolette discovered that not only had John Hill placed ads, 155 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 2: he had successfully bribed a journalist. George Sikolski, a columnist 156 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 2: for the New York Herald Tribune, frequently wrote about free 157 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,679 Speaker 2: enterprise and anti unionism in magazines like The Atlantic Monthly. 158 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,199 Speaker 2: From nineteen thirty six to nineteen thirty eight, Sakolski received 159 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 2: twenty nine thousand dollars from Helen Nolton to write anti 160 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 2: union articles for the Steel Industry trade group, and it worked. 161 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 2: He wrote stories in prestigious newspapers and magazines about how 162 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,119 Speaker 2: the riots were all the US Union's fault, never disclosing 163 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 2: his connection to Helen Nolton or the steel industry. Sukulski 164 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 2: also regularly ranted on the radio for the National Association 165 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 2: of Manufacturers and various other pro business groups. Here he 166 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 2: is complaining about that terrible socialist policy social security. 167 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 7: The federal government Social Security Act passed by Congress, assigned 168 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 7: by the President. 169 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 6: Now in law of the land. 170 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 7: When we talk of that, we have something very specific 171 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 7: to forra pretty close to five billion dollars annually within 172 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 7: the next fifteen years to be met by texts which 173 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 7: were produced increase prices, reduced profits, and possibly even reduced 174 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 7: employment of labor. 175 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 2: The dude was like a progressive era a Rush Limbaugh. 176 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 6: Oh the girl who loves a soldier, here's the girl 177 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 6: who adores. 178 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 2: Ultimately, World War Two rendered the whole labor argument moot. 179 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 2: The factories were required to unionize, but there were also 180 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 2: kicked off, another red scare, further solidifying Hill's conservative, pro 181 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 2: business anti government ideology, and it's that ideology that fueled 182 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 2: his work for his next big and lethal client. More 183 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 2: on that. After the break simply confuted, World War two 184 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 2: had just put an end to year's worth of labor 185 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 2: strikes in steel mills, John Hill was hired to help 186 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:37,839 Speaker 2: the industry through it all, but his work on that 187 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 2: front was basically a failure. Not only had his clients 188 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,439 Speaker 2: lost the war with labor, but their goonish tactics had 189 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 2: been outed in the press. They looked just like the 190 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 2: evil bosses they were pretending really hard not to be. 191 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 2: A lot of people would have lost those accounts for 192 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 2: bungling the labor strikes so thoroughly. Hill had read the 193 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 2: room entirely wrong. And not only that he'd gotten busted 194 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 2: bribing a journalist, but by this point, the steel and 195 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 2: oil barons who made up Hills client tell considered him 196 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 2: a friend, an equal, a trusted confidant, and he spent 197 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 2: almost as much time managing how his clients saw him 198 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 2: as how the public saw them. By this point, Hill 199 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 2: had also learned a very important lesson. His job was 200 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 2: not to sell the public on any particular product, company 201 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 2: or industry. It was to sell Americans on the importance 202 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 2: of American business in general, and particularly big business. He 203 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 2: was pushing ideology, creating social license for American industry, and 204 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 2: that meant working in Washington too. Shortly after the war, 205 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 2: Hill and Nolton became the first PR firm to have 206 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 2: an entire branch dedicated to public policy work. The Washington 207 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 2: office didn't have its own accounts. It existed solely to 208 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 2: handle government relations for the firm's New York and Cleveland clients. 209 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 2: By this point, that meant they had their hands in 210 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 2: everything from energy policy to agriculture and all between, for 211 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 2: clients like Texaco, Marathon Oil, Coca Cola, Monsanto, and a 212 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 2: big new client, the Tobacco Industry Research Committee. 213 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 3: Listen while I tell you. 214 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 6: A story, The Tale of the Marl Pearl Brown. 215 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 5: Came out of Bridge. 216 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 2: We're gonna spend a fair bit of time talking about 217 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 2: the Tobacco Industry Research Committee for a few reasons. First, 218 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 2: it's a really good example of the type of strategy 219 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 2: Hill would typically recommend for industries. Second, it shows how 220 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 2: a dept he and his firm were at manipulating the press. 221 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 2: And third, because Hill is a huge link between tobacco 222 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,839 Speaker 2: and oil, not only did he have oil clients early 223 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 2: on who informed some of his work on tobacco and 224 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 2: vice versa, but he often brought them together in the 225 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 2: same trade groups. R. J. Reynolds, for example, a key 226 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 2: member of the Tobacco Industry Research Committe, also had their 227 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 2: research arm join the American Patrollium Institute, a client of 228 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 2: John Hills by this point. And then there was the 229 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 2: more direct intersection, which attorney Carol Muffett pointed out to me. 230 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: Gas stations were the most important retail outlets for cigarettes 231 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: for decades, and for the oil companies, cigarettes were their 232 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: most important retail product other than gasoline itself. 233 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 2: Fascinating, right, but it makes complete sense when you think 234 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 2: about it, and also helps explain why there were so 235 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 2: many overlapping ad campaigns between the companies. Muffett says, there 236 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 2: are two things that make this remarkable. 237 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: One was the joint marketing strategies and documents and analysis 238 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: that the oil companies would do together with the tobacco companies. 239 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 2: The tobacco industry archives are filled with these strategies and reports, 240 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 2: and many of the joint ventures were between two Hill 241 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 2: and Milton clients. 242 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: So by the time you get to the nineteen eighties 243 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: and nineteen nineties, we were finding joint meetings of advertising 244 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: managers from Exxon Mobile and Rjr. Or for Chevron and 245 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: Philip Morris. 246 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 2: And these meetings were not just quick debriefs either. 247 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: They would often include detailed requirements about where the cigarettes 248 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: would be posted, what aisles they would be visible to, 249 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: ensuring that they were set up next to the candy. 250 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: One of these reports runs to two hundred pages and 251 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: includes incredibly detailed analysis that broke people down by demographics, 252 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: by neighborhoods, by socioeconomic status, with the goal of targeting 253 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: them very individually. 254 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 2: Muffett tells me their entanglements eventually went beyond advertising. 255 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: And so it's perhaps unsurprising, though it's also very little 256 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: known that the oil and gas companies actually ended up 257 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: as defendants in the tobacco suit. 258 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 2: I did not know that, but it's true. I double 259 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 2: checked the Topaca go industry archives and there they are Texico, Chevron, Exxon, SOO, 260 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 2: and more, all named defendants in the tobacco suits. 261 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: Even less understood, and the thing that I think we 262 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: found most striking was that when tobacco companies needed to 263 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: assess the toxics, in their cigarettes and in cigarette smoke. 264 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: The people they turned to to do it were the 265 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: oil companies. 266 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 2: Hold on, what why would they do that? Well, remember, 267 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 2: by this point, the oil companies had had their own 268 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 2: air pollution issues because of smog and lead and gasoline, 269 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 2: so they had all the equipment necessary to do this 270 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 2: sort of testing at the time. And it's also worth 271 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 2: repeating that John Hill repped both the main oil industry group, 272 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 2: the American Petroleum Institute, and the main tobacco industry group, 273 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 2: the Tobacco Industry Research Committee. Here's Muffett again. 274 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 1: And when the oil companies reported back to the tobacco 275 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: companies on the toxins they were funding in that smoke, 276 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: you know what did they do with the information? Did 277 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: they go public and say there's a massive risk here. 278 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 2: No, Instead, they entered into a joint enterprise with the 279 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 2: oil companies, agreeing to make cigarette filters for Big Tobacco, 280 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 2: a product Muffet calls one of the. 281 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: Most ubiquitous plastic pollutants in the world, cigarette filters, and 282 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: the leaders in developing them were Exxon and Shell. And 283 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: they did it because they saw a marketing opportunity and 284 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: a market opportunity in capturing the smoke. 285 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 2: And of course for tobacco it wasn't just a handy 286 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 2: defense against rising health concerns around smoking. It was also 287 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 2: a chance to sell more cigarettes. 288 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 4: My barber is always right, listen, brow which filter cigarette 289 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 4: do you recommend? Mela Marras Philip Marris makes a filter, 290 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:53,880 Speaker 4: the filter that's full of flavor. 291 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: It's really worth recognizing that as part of the tobacco litigation, 292 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,919 Speaker 1: it came out that both the filter manufacturers and the 293 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:06,439 Speaker 1: tobacco companies understood all along that those filters were a 294 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: marketing tool, that they did virtually nothing to reduce the 295 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: toxic nature of cigarette smoke. And those filters are not 296 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: just you know, they did more than just create a 297 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,120 Speaker 1: new product stream for the oil and gas companies and 298 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: creating an excuse for the tobacco industry to continue selling cigarettes. 299 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: They also started showing up in the environment over and 300 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: over as the cutting edge of the plastics crisis. 301 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 2: It's true, every time you see one of those inventories 302 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 2: from beach cleanups or big ocean plastic cleanups, one of 303 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 2: the top five items they collect is always cigarette butts 304 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 2: because of the filters. Well, of course I know that 305 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 2: oil companies are in the petrochemical business and definitely linked 306 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 2: to plastic. I had had no idea that they had 307 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 2: come up with the cigarette filter or were complete bullshit, 308 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 2: and they knew it that they were just made to 309 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 2: throw up a smoke screen for tobacco and create a 310 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 2: new revenue stream for big oil. So while all of 311 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,639 Speaker 2: this back and forth is happening between the oil guys 312 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,400 Speaker 2: and the tobacco guys, Hill and Milton has their staff 313 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,160 Speaker 2: funding and sourcing research on all the other things connected 314 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 2: to lung cancer, and they're looking for scientists to sign 315 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:29,199 Speaker 2: on to the advisory board of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee. 316 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 2: This was all Hill's brainchild. The tobacco companies initially argued 317 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 2: with him. They didn't want to do a whole separate 318 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 2: research committee. They'd already done their own research, and they 319 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 2: thought that Hill should just be pushing that instead of 320 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 2: trying to get them to fund more studies. They didn't 321 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 2: need a whole independent research committee, but Hill insisted they 322 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 2: needed third party, independent research that would be perceived as 323 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 2: more credible than the company's own research by the media. 324 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 2: Eventually they gave in in December nineteen fifty three. The 325 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 2: CEOs of all all the major American tobacco companies met 326 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 2: with Hill at the Plaza Hotel to launch the Tobacco 327 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 2: Industry Research Committee. Now, they just needed a reputable cancer 328 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 2: researcher as their scientific director, and that was not easy 329 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 2: to find. So in the first several months of the 330 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 2: committee's existence, its research was conducted by hillan Nolton staffers. 331 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 2: There are all of these internal staff memos from this 332 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 2: time where they're giving updates on clients, and the oil 333 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 2: tobacco connection is stark because you've got updates on Texaco, 334 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 2: followed immediately by updates on this phony research committee, with 335 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 2: lots of the same staff on both. Eventually they hired 336 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,120 Speaker 2: doctor Clarence Cook Little. He went by CECI and Helen 337 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 2: Nolton proclaimed him a world renowned cancer researcher, which was 338 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 2: a bit of a stretch. He'd been president of the 339 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 2: University of Michigan and had worked for a year as 340 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,880 Speaker 2: the managing director of the American Cancer Society, but he'd 341 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 2: never actually done any cancer research. The quote unquote care 342 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 2: Cancer Lab that Little ran raised mice for actual researchers 343 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,240 Speaker 2: to use in the hands of Hilen Milton, though Little 344 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 2: became a widely respected researcher, so much so that, in 345 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 2: May nineteen fifty five, when famed journalist Edward R. Murrow 346 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 2: wanted to tackle the smoking controversy in a two part special, 347 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 2: Little was introduced like this. 348 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,880 Speaker 6: The cigarette industry, aware of this fact and fully cognizant 349 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 6: of its responsibility, has organized the Tobacco Industry Research Committee. 350 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 6: Its scientific director is the eminent cancer investigator, doctor Clarence 351 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 6: Cook Little, head of the Jackson Memorial Laboratory at Bar Harbor, Maine. 352 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 2: The research group arranged for Murrow to talk to two 353 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 2: other quote unquote independent scientists, both of whom were also 354 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 2: on Tobacco's payroll, unbeknownst to Murrow, and the resulting documentary 355 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 2: actually had the effect of making the legit scientists who 356 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 2: hadn't gone through hilln Nolton's extensive media training look like activists, 357 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 2: and the industry plants looked like the serious logical adults 358 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 2: in the room. 359 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,959 Speaker 4: Doctor Little, have any cancer causing agents been identified in cigarettes? 360 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 6: No, none whatever, either in cigarettes or in any product 361 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:19,680 Speaker 6: of smoking as such. 362 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 2: Although he officially retired in nineteen sixty two, John Hill 363 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,479 Speaker 2: remained very involved in his firm, going to the office 364 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 2: daily right up to a month before he died at 365 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 2: the age of eighty six in nineteen seventy seven. Hill 366 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 2: had stayed true to his commitment to stay out of 367 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 2: the press himself, and none of his industrial machinations were 368 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 2: well known at the time of his death. His New 369 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 2: York Times obituary sounds like it could have been written 370 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 2: about any kindly octogenarian at the time. Always conscious of 371 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 2: his health, mister Hill lunched daily on cottage cheese and 372 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 2: fruit or prune whip, and claimed that he worked out 373 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,199 Speaker 2: in a gym two nights a week. He reads, he 374 00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,679 Speaker 2: rode his own horses around his place in Pauling, New 375 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 2: York weekends frequently with business executives who also loved the sport, 376 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 2: and spent two weeks each year bareback writing in Arizona, yep, 377 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 2: prune whip and bareback writing and manipulating Americans. That's John Hell. 378 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 2: Coming up next week, we'll meet the couple that spawned 379 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 2: climate denial, and we've got two more episodes for you 380 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 2: this season after that, So stay tuned. Drilled is produced 381 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 2: and distributed by Critical Frequency. The show is reported, written 382 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 2: and produced by me Amy Westervelt. Our editor is Julia Ritchie. 383 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 2: Our editorial advisor is Raka Murphy. Sound design and score 384 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:57,199 Speaker 2: by b Beaman. Katie Ross created the amazing artwork for 385 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 2: this season special Thanks to our first Men Attorney James 386 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 2: Wheaton and the First Amendment Project. Thanks for this episode. 387 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 2: Also to researcher Karen Miller for her terrific book on 388 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 2: John Hill, The Voice of Business, and journalist Dan Ziegert 389 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 2: for sharing some of his reporting on Hill and pointing 390 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 2: me to the whole murrow of fiasco. Drilled is made 391 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,919 Speaker 2: possible in part by a generous grant from the Institute 392 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 2: for Governance and Sustainable Development. We appreciate their support. You 393 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 2: can find Drilled wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to 394 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 2: leave us a rating or review. It really helps people 395 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 2: find the show. You can follow us on Twitter at 396 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 2: we are Drilled and visit our website drillednews dot com 397 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,360 Speaker 2: for more reporting on this subject and behind the scenes 398 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 2: stories from this season. Thanks for listening and we'll see 399 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 2: you next time.