Thread by @f__kvice

Inside the partnership of VICE and Philip Morris International. Three years and millions of dollars.
~~THREAD TIME~~
notvice.com/vice-and-phili…

2/ Earlier today, @FT reported part of the story. Initially I was bummed... but then again it's nice to have the someone else report some high-level, legally risky details. (I heard PMI / VICE deal was "nine figures," FT reports £5m) ft.com/content/9015a5…

3/ There are so many crazy details and rabbit holes to look into when writing about Philip Morris. Going in I knew cigarette companies were shady and they kill people but somehow it was so much worse.

But you're hear to know why @VICE would partner with Big Tobacco...

4/ Money. Vice likes money. Vice has no editorial ethics but they have a sliver of credibility. Philip Morris Intl is also terrible at making films here is before the partnership...

If that thumbnail looks like a stock photo. That's because it is.

5/ It's a @Shutterstock photo tagged "indian" "girl" "beautiful".

Direct link if you need to diversify your company like PMI 🔗shutterstock.com/image-photo/yo…

6/ In 2016, as a PMI partnership is brewing, Vice brass rename one of their bullshit shell companies (not the technical term) from "Talent Ventures" to "Edition Worldwide".

cuz a company run by Vice brass and 75%+ owned by Shane Smith is somehow better.
🔗beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/095616…

7/ From this point forward I will stop saying "Edition Worldwide" made so-and-so because that legitimizes bullshit companies.

Staff, on industry sites, overwhelmingly say they worked for Vice not E.W.

VICE 👏MAKES 👏TOBACCO 👏ADS👏

8/ This is the earliest ad I could confirm Vice produced. (FYI: I refuse to call it a documentary. Crew don't scrub their name from docs.)

Vice taught PMI:
1. Don't use stock photos
2. Hire a good cinematographer
3. Hire a good sound-person
4. B.S.

9/ It was made ~Nov 2016 and was released on YouTube in 2018. Watching it would be a waste of time. All you need to know is the ad ends with “correct as of November 2016.”

If you need a scientific deconstruction, read @ProfGlantz's article:
🔗tobacco.ucsf.edu/pmi%E2%80%99s-…

10/ I was planning on publishing Saturday but @alicemhancock scooped me.

I will continue this ~~THREAD~~ tomorrow.

I'll leave you with this absolutely incredible animation by @KjellBoersma (there are three in the article)

11/ The next ad (disguised as a documentary) VICE made for PMI was called "Creating a Smoke-free Future" which follows a bunch of Kool-Aid drinking old men spewing line after line of PR.

The title is line-for line bulls**t PR.
🔗

12/ This scene from the ad shows the development of iQOS's "smoke-free" system. Spoiler alert none of these are actually smoke-free.

In the middle you can see a failed product called "The Accord Cigarette".

Oh how #ads have changed since the 90s...
🔗

13/ PMI wants to forget about "The Accord Cigarette" because its marketing is almost identical to iQOS.

It was marketed as a “reduced risk product” where “smoke is reduced by about 90%”.

This video compares animations from 1997 and 2017.

14/ Basically, PMI is trying to pull one over on the public and VICE is helping them do it. They are trying to make a smaller cigarette, smoulder it at lower temperatures (350°C) and in an effort to skirt smoking laws.

15/ They're hoping that if they say the words "heat-not-burn" enough times it will become true.

I challenge anyone to touch a 350°C element and tell me how they heat-not-burned their hands.

16/ This article from VICE Romania does not disclose that they have taken millions from PMI to create iQOS ads.

Web archive link (I refuse to send it traffic) 🔗web.archive.org/web/2018031622…

One part translates: “You’ll love online tutorials to learn how to clean IQOS for tobacco”

17/ Google Translate didn't do a good job so I had a Romanian speaker translate it. Title should say "I tried out IQOS for one week to see what's the deal with this heated up tobacco"

(NOTE: Writers don't typically choose the headline.)

18/ Vice was taking millions from PMI, making PMI ads, publishing uncritical articles on PMI products... and the kicker?

Vice was simultaneously collaborating with @truthinitiative.

cc: @viceimpact @robinkoval @DioFavatas @ProfGlantz @bogusky

19/ Vice Impact page with @truthinitiative logo:

Direct link🔗impact.vice.com/en_us/campaign…
Archive 🔗archive.is/TvZlD

Clicking the truth logo leads to 🔗opioids.thetruth.com/o/home

(I removed Vice's URL CID "?cid=affiliate_VICE_opioids")

20/ First official response from PMI. Will they release those involved from their secrecy agreements?

https://twitter.com/DrGilchrist/status/1109147094080778242

21/ They are hinting that the work will speak for itself. What about all the people involved who are forced into silence due to secrecy agreements?

https://twitter.com/DrGilchrist/status/1109167867419873282

22/ Great, now I have this song stuck in my head again:

23/ Vice has an official statement. No clarity on who --specifically-- has editorial control. No numbers.

https://twitter.com/WilliamTurton/status/1109143292686553088

24/ William Turton covers vaping for Vice News. He seems skeptical of the Vice / PMI partnership but ultimately, he will either:
1. Go silent
2. Fall in line
3. Get fired
4. Quit
5. Change Vice? No published code of ethics and means no leverage. Unlikely.

https://twitter.com/WilliamTurton/status/1108802677998342144