A Frank Statement was an advertisement published in 1954 by US tobacco executives to cast doubt on scientific evidence showing health effects from smoking. Industry leaders created this document after facing a public relations emergency following Reader's Digest summary of findings linking smoking to serious illness.
R. J. Reynolds explicitly adopted tactics to create consumer skepticism as a competitive business tool according to a 1969 memorandum. The company fabricated or falsified scientific research and presented flawed methodologies as legitimate studies while selectively publishing only favorable results.
Steve Milloy served as the first director of the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) which was established with his prior employment at APCO. Philip Morris employed APCO to organize TASSC before Milloy later created junkscience.com to promote climate change denial.
Groups such as the American Petroleum Institute used the same tactics to cast doubt on climate science from the 1990s onward. These include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and the Hudson Institute which were funded by tobacco firms and subsequently by Exxon.
Some agreements stated explicitly that Coca-Cola could prevent publication or control study data disclosure regarding health researchers they funded. Tobacco companies took stakes in soft drinks companies and used the same tactics around colors and flavors to target young potential smokers.