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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
BOWLING GREEN DIVISION
COMMONWEALTH BRANDS, INC.;
CONWOOD COMPANY, LLC; DISCOUNT
TOBACCO CITY & LOITERY, INC.;
LORILLARD, INC.; NATIONAL TOBACCO
COMPANY, L.P.; R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO
COMPANY;
Plaintiffs.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; U.S. FOOD
AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION; MARGARE1
HAMBURG, Commissioner of the United States
Food and Drug Administration; and KATHLEENSEBEL1US, Secretary of
the United StatesDepartment of Health and Human Services;
Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION
NO. l:09-cv-U7-M
(Electronically filed)
DECLARATION OF MICHAEL G. TERRY
1, Michael G. Terry, declare under penalty of perjury that the
following is true and correct
to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief:
Introduction
1. My name is Michael G. Terry. I am Vice President of Marketing
at plaintiff
National Tobacco Company L.P. ("National"). 1 am submitting this
declaration in accordance
with the Court's Order entered on October 5, 2009 and in support
of the motion for summary
judgment that will be filed by National and other plaintiffs in
this action.
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Date
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2. National is a Delaware limited partnership whose general
partner is National
Tobacco Finance Corporation and whose limited partner is North
Atlantic Trading Company,
Inc. National's principal place of business is in Louisville,
Kentucky and its manufacturing
operations are in Kentucky and Tennessee.
3. National manufactures and distributes smokeless tobacco
products, roll-your-own
tobacco and pipe tobacco and also distributes cigarette papers
and other roll-your-own products.
Its products are sold under the brand names Beech-Nut®.
Stoker's®, Durango®, Havana
Blossom®, Trophy® and Zig-Zag®, among others.
4. I have been National's Vice President of Marketing since
January 2006. I
currently have responsibility for marketing National's brands to
adult consumers. My
responsibilities include overall brand strategic planning,
advertising and marketing
communications with adult consumers, including product packaging
and retail point-of-sale
marketing. 1 am also responsible for overseeing National's
customer service. I am the senior
executive overseeing consumer marketing functions at
National.
5. 1 received a liberal arts degree from Bowdoin College in 1983
and a Master's
Degree in Business Administration in 1987 from the Ross School
of Business at the University
of Michigan. 1 have worked in brand marketing since I finished
business school. Before joining
National in January 2006, I held brand marketing positions with
RJR/Nabisco, Tropicana,
Dannon Yogurt and US Smokeless 'Tobacco.
6. My statements in this declaration are based upon my personal
knowledge,
education, training, experience and judgment.
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National's Consumer Marketing
7. National's marketing is directed to existing adult tobacco
consumers. National's
marketing focuses on reinforcing the brand loyalty of adult
consumers who already buy our
products and on encouraging adult consumers who buy our
competitors' products to choose our
products instead. Encouraging adult consumers to switch to our
products is the best opportunity
we have to grow our business and increase our market share among
existing adult tobacco
consumers.
8. Marketing communications are the only way National can tell
adult tobacco
consumers about our products and build brand equity (that is,
brand recognition and positive
associations with our brands in the minds of adult consumers).
Marketing communications are
critically important to our ability to compete in the
marketplace.
9. National's primary consumer marketing tools are:
• product packaging,
• point-of-sale (that is, in-store) marketing at retail stores,
and
• direct marketing to adult tobacco consumers.
10. National is currently a relatively small company compared to
others in the
marketplace. We therefore have a limited marketing budget. We
rely very heavily on our
product packaging, point-of-sale marketing and direct marketing
to build brand equity and to
distinguish our products from our competitors' products.
11. Our advertising is intended to get the attention of adult
tobacco consumers and
communicate to them a particular message about our brands, to
retain adult consumers who
already buy our products and reinforce brand loyalty, to build
brand equity and to encourage
other adult consumers who buy our competitors' products to
switch to our products.
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12. National is a compliant Non-Participating Manufacturer with
regard to the 1998
Master Settlement Agreement among 46 states and the four major
tobacco companies at that time
(Reynolds, Philip Morris, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard).
National makes substantial
monetary deposits for the benefit of settling states in a
complete and timely manner.
The Act's Impact on National's Consumer Marketing
13. 1 understand that this lawsuit challenges certain new
restrictions on consumer
marketing contained in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco
Control Act (the "Act"').
Based on my experience and judgment, those new restrictions
would severely impair National's
ability to communicate with adult tobacco consumers. The Act
restricts the ways we
communicate with adult consumers who already buy our products
and with other adult tobacco
consumers.
Ban on Color and Graphics in Advertising
14. Section 102(a)(2) of the Act (creating new 21 C.F.R. §
897.32(a)) limits tobacco
product advertising to black and white text only, except in
certain adult-only facilities and in
certain adult publications.
15. As explained above, we rely heavily on point-of-sale
marketing. We have
typically used color, graphics and images, brand names and brand
logos in these
communications. In my judgment, it is essential for us to be
able to use color and graphics in our
advertising. Using only black-and-white text would eliminate our
ability to highlight the
differences between our products and our competitors' products
and to communicate the essence
of our brands to adult consumers.
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16. Some examples of our point-of-sale materials follow.
^G-24,MAKE YOUR OWN CENTER
Make a BetterCigaretteand save!
ztg-Zag it* mat Easy
NEW BUY BIG-SAVE BIG
NEW LOOK!rmtsH scal-
MetalcaN• AMI
PRIMIUNtobacco
17. Color, graphics and images are an essential part of
conveying a message to adult
consumers in an efficient and effective way. This is
particularly true when we launch a new
product, in order to communicate the differences that set our
new product apart. Among other
things, it is important to show the consumer a picture of the
new product so that the consumer
will know what to look for. Text-only advertising cannot do
that. Also, without color or images,
it is virtually impossible to distinguish one product from
another.
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18. Furthermore, a number of National's federally-registered
trademarks include
designs. Our registered trademarks include the following design
marks, among others, BEECH
NUT and design (Reg. No. 3,703,294) and STOKER'S and design
(Reg. No. 2,071,640):
Under the Act, as it is written, because our design marks
contain graphics and images, National
would be prohibited from using those trademarks in its
advertising, except in certain adults-only
facilities and adult publications.
19. In fact, under the Act, color, graphics and images are
barred from almost every
avenue we use to communicate with adult tobacco consumers
(including adult consumers who
already buy our products), including retail point-of-sale
materials.
20. Under the Act, with almost all advertising limited to
black-and-white and text-
only, we will have a number of problems marketing National's
products. First, all of National's
advertising will look the same, no matter what brand or product
it concerns. Furthermore, all of
National's advertising will look just like our competitors'
materials. It will be much harder to
communicate effectively, because advertisements will be less
noticeable. We will also lose the
ability to use color and design to communicate key brand
equities and product attributes to adult
consumers. If our advertising looks very similar to our
competitors' advertising, adult
consumers are likely to believe there are few real differences
in the products. That would make
it more difficult to communicate about core brand attributes. In
addition, we would lose the
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value of our trademarks, logos and color schemes, and all the
associated good will that has been
built up over time.
21. The ban on color and graphics contains an exception for
consumer advertising in
certain adult-only facilities. However, this exception is so
narrow that, in practice, it does not
reduce the harm caused by the ban on color, graphics and images
in advertising.
22. To qualify for the exception, the Act requires that the
retailer must "ensure! j" tnat
no person younger than 18 years of age is present, or permitted
to enter, at any time." 21 C.F.R.
§ 897.32(a), id. § 897.16(c)(2)(ii). In addition, at such
locations, the advertisement must be
"affixed to a wall or fixture in the facility" and must not be
"visible from outside the facility."
21 C.F.R. § 897.32(a). This exception is unlikely to have any
practical benefit. First, this
exception is not available to tobacco specialty stores, even if
they do not ever allow minors to
enter. Section 101(b) of the Act (creating new § 913 of the
Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic
Act) dictates that regulations be issued that require tobacco
specialty stores to "comply with any
advertising restrictions applicable to retail establishments
accessible to individuals under the age
of 18." Second, many retailers who sell National's tobacco
products let underage people enter
their stores (for example, convenience and grocery stores).
'Third, many retailers have large plate
glass windows and doors on their stores, which means that much
of the inside of the store is
visible from outside. Thus, in practice, this exception will
apparently apply only to adult-only
bars and nightclubs (and only as long as their interiors are not
visible from outside). To the best
of my knowledge, National does not sell its products through
those types of establishments.
23. In addition, the retail exception's requirement that an
advertisement be attached to
a wall or fixture would prevent the use of promotional displays
and other materials that National
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now uses regularly. For example, we regularly use free-standing
product displays, like the
examples in the following pictures.
Sf 99 *"-••—€jnve '2"Q Now!
pgECH-NUt
24. These displays are particularly critical in generating
awareness and getting adult
consumers to try new products. We also use them to reinforce
adult consumer loyalty to our
existing products and encourage adult consumers of our
competitors' products to try our
products and switch to them. We also use counter mats, floor
decals and other point-of-sale
advertising that does not affix to a wall or fixture.
25. In short, the exception for certain adult-only facilities
has little practical
application. 'The Act will, in effect, foreclose National from
using color, graphics or imagery in
its point-of-sale materials.
Drastic Changes to Product Packaging
26. Section 201(a) of the Act drastically changes the text and
configuration of current
warnings on packaging and advertising on tobacco products.
'These new requirements will
severely impair our ability to communicate with adult consumers
through our product packaging.
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27. For roll-your-own tobacco, the Act dictates that the top 50%
of the front and back
of the package must display a government-mandated message and
color graphics depicting
illnesses caused by tobacco use. For smokeless tobacco products,
the Act requires that 30% of
the two primary display panels on the package display a
government-mandated message. In
addition to the warning statements, the Act requires the tobacco
package to contain additional
items: the statement "Sale only allowed in the United States,"
the product's established name
(e.g., "chewing tobacco," "roll-your-own tobacco," "moist
snuff), the quantity of contents, the
percent domestic/foreign grown tobacco, and the name and
location of manufacturer, packer or
distributor.
28. Packaging is an important part of how we communicate with
adult consumers.
We design our packaging carefully to reinforce brand equity, to
convey information about our
brands to our adult consumers and to differentiate our brands
from competitors' brands. This is
particularly true since there is a limited amount of space on
tobacco packaging.
29. For example, on the back of the package for our Stoker's®
24C® chewing tobacco,
we tell the story of the Stoker family tradition of producing
quality chewing tobacco and
providing good value ("a good chew at a fair price") since 1940.
That text communicates an
important brand message to adult consumers. Pictures of the
front and back of the packaging for
that product follow.
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24C
It will not be possible to convey the same brand message
effectively if 30% of the front and back
of the package are taken up by a government-mandated
message.
30. The Act will take up either 30% or 50%, depending on the
product, of the primary
display panels. With that much space occupied by a
government-mandated message, we will
have to redesign all of our existing packaging, and the amount
of information we are able to
include on packaging will be reduced.
Restrictions on Sampling
31. Section § 102(a)(2)(G) of the Act (which creates new 21
C.F.R. § 897.15(g))
restricts distribution of smokeless tobacco product samples to
locations that meet the definition
of a "Qualified Adult-only Facility."
32. Like many consumer goods manufacturers, National uses
product sampling to
introduce new products to adult consumers and to encourage adult
consumers of competitive
brands to try (and hopefully switch to) its brands. Offering
samples facilitates communication
with adult consumers because it gives them something of
value.
33. National engages in product sampling with adult tobacco
consumers. As a small
company with a limited marketing budget, National relies heavily
on one-on-one contact with
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adult tobacco consumers to build its brand equity, to generate
positive word of mouth and to
encourage consumers to remain loyal to its products or to switch
to its products from
competitors' brands. In fact, sampling is one of the most
effective ways to convince an adult
consumer of a competitor's brand to switch to one of our brands.
An adult consumer who is
currently satisfied with his or her brand may not be influenced
to try our brands by in-store
advertising. Sampling allows us to give one of our brands to an
adult consumer, so that he or she
can try it without spending any money. Once the adult consumer
has tried the sample, that
consumer can understand our brand's competitive point of
difference (for example, good quality
and good value) and switch to one of our brands.
34. National, as a matter of company policy, strictly prohibits
distribution of samples
of tobacco products to minors. We distribute samples to adult
consumers only after verifying
their ages by checking their government-issued
identification.
35. The new restrictions on sampling of smokeless tobacco
products are so onerous
that they will greatly harm National's ability to communicate
with adult consumers.
36. First, the Act would allow the distribution of samples only
in a "qualified adult-
only facility," which section 102(a)(2)(G) of the Act (creating
21 C.F.R. § 897.16(d)) defines as:
'(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 'qualified adult
onlyfacility' means a facility or restricted area that -
'(i) requires each person present to provide to a lawenforcement
officer (whether on or off duty) or to asecurity guard licensed by
a governmental entitygovernment-issued identification showing a
photographand at least the minimum age established by applicable
lawfor the purchase of smokeless tobacco;
'(ii) does not sell, serve, or distribute alcohol;
'(iii) is not located adjacent to or immediately across from(in
any direction) a space that is used primarily for youthoriented
marketing, promotional, or other activities;
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'(iv) is a temporary structure constructed, designated,
andoperated as a distinct enclosed area for the purpose
ofdistributing free samples of smokeless tobacco inaccordance with
this subparagraph;
'(v) is enclosed by a barrier that—
'(I) is constructed of, or covered with, an opaquematerial
(except for entrances and exits);
'(II) extends from no more than 12 inches above the
ground or floor (which area at the bottom of thebarrier must be
covered with material that restricts
visibility but may allow airflow) to at least 8 feetabove the
ground or floor (or to the ceiling); and
'(HI) prevents persons outside the qualified adult-only facility
from seeing into the qualified adult-only facility, unless they
make unreasonable effortsto do so; and
'(vi) does not display on its exterior—
'(I) any tobacco product advertising;
'(11) a brand name other than in conjunction withwords for an
area or enclosure to identify an adult-only facility; or
'(111) any combination of words that would imply toa reasonable
observer that the manufacturer,
distributor, or retailer has a sponsorship that wouldviolate
section 897.34(c).
37. 'These detailed and onerous requirements that must be
satisfied for a location to
qualify as a "qualified adult-only facility" impair our ability
to communicate with adults of legal
age about a legal product. Among other things, even if it might
be physically possible in a given
location to comply with the many requirements that a location
must satisfy to be a "qualified
adult-only facility," the restrictions on exterior signage will
make it very difficult for adult
consumers to find us.
38. Second, section 102(a)(2)(G) of the Act (creating new 21
C.F.R. §
897.16(d)(2)(D)) requires that distribution of samples of
smokeless tobacco must be limited to no
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more than one package per adult consumer per day and limits each
package to no more than 0.53
ounces of smokeless tobacco.
39. This new sample-size restriction will make it exceedingly
difficult for National to
communicate its brand messages to adult consumers. One problem
is that the Act does not
differentiate among the various forms of smokeless tobacco,
which are, in fact, manufactured
differently and consumed differently by adult consumers.
National actively markets both major
forms of smokeless tobacco: moist smokeless tobacco (or "dip")
and loose-leaf tobacco (or
"chewing tobacco"). The moist smokeless tobacco is finely cut
tobacco that is primarily sold in
l.2-ounce cans. The loose-leaf tobacco is more leaf-like, with
larger pieces of tobacco, that is
sold primarily in 3-ounce foil bags. Most adult consumers prefer
and primarily use one or the
other. Regardless of their primary usage, adult consumers on
average consume approximately 3-
4 packages of moist smokeless tobacco or loose-leaf tobacco per
week.
40. The mandated .53-ounce sample size does not take into
account the difference
between moist smokeless tobacco and loose-leaf smokeless tobacco
products. Because
National's loose-leaf smokeless tobacco products are larger
cuts, which adult consumers
typically use in larger amounts, a sample of no more than 0.53
ounces of product is too small to
be a viable sample.
41. In addition, for some of National's moist smokeless tobacco
and loose-leaf
tobacco products, our competitive difference is value. We
package our products differently than
our competitors. We offer larger containers holding more product
at a lower price. For our
moist smokeless product, the adult consumer buys a 12-ounce tub
(compared to the industry-
standard 1.2-ounce can) then refills a smaller, more portable
can or other container himself or
herself. 'This represents a behavioral change for adult
consumers because the consumer is doing
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a bit more work, but we are able to offer better value because
the consumer is buying in bulk. To
communicate this brand message effectively and to inform adult
consumers about this behavioral
change, National typically gives interested adult consumers
full-size, 12-ounce samples of our
moist smokeless tobacco products, so that the adult consumers
have a realistic product
experience from the samples. National also has brands of
loose-leaf tobacco that are similarly
positioned from a value perspective. While the industry standard
is 3-ounce foil bags, we offer
8-ounce and 16-ounce foil bags of loose-leaf tobacco. When we
sample our loose-leaf products
that are positioned on value, we generally provide adult
consumers a sample size of a 16-ounce
bag. We cannot communicate these brand messages of better value
to adult consumers if we are
limited to a single sample of no more than 0.53 ounces per
consumer per day.
42. Taken together, the new restrictions on distributing samples
of smokeless tobacco
products greatly harm National's ability to communicate about
its products with existing adult
consumers of its products and with other adult consumers of
legal age.
Impact of Sampling Restrictions on Direct Marketing
43. Direct marketing through sampling is a critical component of
National's
consumer marketing. We also rely on direct contact by mail with
adult consumers who already
buy our products and with adult consumers who buy our
competitors' products to communicate
about new products, to reinforce our brand message about our
existing products and to build
brand loyalty by providing coupons and special offers.
44. To that end, we maintain a database of adult consumers who
are interested in
getting information about our products. If our ability to
distribute samples is impaired, our
ability to develop our direct marketing program will also
suffer. That is because one of the
primary ways we develop our database is to add the names of
adults who have taken samples of
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our products and who gave us their contact information and
indicated they would be interested in
receiving coupon offers and information about our products.
45. If we are restricted from distributing effective samples of
our products, it will not
only impair our ability to interact with adult consumers
one-on-one, but will also impair our
ability to contact adult consumers who want information about
our products through direct mail.
Ban on Brand Name Merchandise
46. Section § 102(a)(2) of the Act (creating new 21 C.F.R. §
897.34(a) and (b)) bans
distribution of any non-tobacco good with a cigarette or
smokeless tobacco brand name on it and
further bans the distribution of non-tobacco goods in exchange
for purchases of tobacco
products.
47. National has in the past provided adult consumers who buy
its products with
utilitarian items bearing National's brand names, including
shirts, hats, magnets and the like.
Sometimes, National has given those items away to adult tobacco
consumers. From time to time.
National has also offered adult tobacco consumers the
opportunity to turn in proofs of purchase
for these items and has offered goods for sale that bear its
brand names.
48. We have found that these activities are very popular with
adult consumers who
buy our products and are a valuable tool in reinforcing brand
loyally and building brand equity.
They are also popular with adult consumers who buy our
competitors' products and help to
encourage people to switch to our brands. Because they are
popular, these activities provide
National with a valuable opportunity to communicate with adult
tobacco consumers and
reinforce our brand messages. The Act would ban all such
activities. It would therefore harm
our ability to communicate with adult tobacco consumers.
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Ban on Outdoor Advertising
49. Section § 102(a)(2) of the Act (creating new 21 C.F.R. §
897.30(b)) bans outdoor
advertising for tobacco products located within 1,000 feet of
the perimeter of any public
playground, elementary or secondary school. National uses
outdoor advertising at retail
locations to let adult tobacco consumers know that a particular
store sells its brands and to
market new products or promotional programs. 'This is part of
our point-of-sale marketing,
which is critical to building our brand equity and competing
against larger, more established
competitors. This new restriction will impair our ability to
communicate with adult consumers.
Harm Caused By Implementing ActWhile This Lawsuit Is Pending
50. Implementing the Act while this lawsuit is pending will
cause substantial harm to
National. The effective date of all of the provisions of the Act
described above (except for roll-
your-own tobacco package warnings) is June 22, 2010. To
implement those provisions by that
date, National will need to design and purchase point-of-sale
materials that comply with the
requirements described above. We will also have to distribute
the new materials to many
retailers nationwide to replace the existing materials. This
process will take at least six months.
51. To implement the changes required under the Act to smokeless
tobacco product
packaging for all of National's many products, we will need to
design and order modified
packages. That process requires at least six months' lead
time.
52. To implement the changes required under the Act to smokeless
tobacco samples.
National will have to create new sample packaging from scratch.
I estimate that it will take at
least 6 to 9 months to design and source that new packaging. If
the Act takes effect in June
2010, National could be without any usable samples for several
months. Even once we have
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new, compliant sample packaging, National will be foreclosed by
the small sample size from
effectively communicatingour brand messages of value to adult
consumers.
Conclusion
53. In short, the new restrictions imposed by the Act will
severely impair National's
ability to communicate with adult consumers of its products and
adult consumers of its
competitors' products. Furthermore, implementing those
restrictions while this lawsuit is
pending will result in significant harm to National.
Dated: November /2. 2009867018
Michael G. Terry
17-