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Altria, parent of Philip Morris USA, has hired Omnicom’s Mercury as its Washington lobbyist on tobacco product regulations.
The $25.6B Richmond-based giant says it's committed to marketing “reduced risk products” to the 40M adult Americans who continue to smoke.
The Food & Drug Administration believes more than half of US smokers (22M) are interested in using less harmful nicotine product alternatives to cigarettes.
PM has focused its sights on e-vapor, smokeless/oral nicotine products and heated tobacco items as platforms with the potential to drive adult smoker conversion.
Meanwhile, PM’s flagship Marlboro cigarette showed a 0.7 percent slip in retail share and an 8.8 percent drop in shipments during 2017.
Mercury managing directors Stephen Aaron and Al Simpson handle the Altria business.
Aaron joined Mercury from Levick following an eight-year stint as federal liaison for the National Rifle Assn. where his duties included prepping witnesses for Congressional hearings, message crafting and strategic delivery.
Simpson is former chief of staff to Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management & Budget and ex-South Carolina Congressman.
Ballard Partners has signed to a represent the US unit of Rheinmetall, Germany’s biggest defense contractor, on Army procurement issues.
BGR Group signs on to provide lobbying and PR services for Terzo, an AI financial intelligence platform. Douglas Lute, chair of BGR’s international and defense practices, will join Terzo’s board of directors.
Avoq has landed Palantir Technologies, the controversial surveillance company founded by right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, as a client.
Anne Kierig, who was senior manager of public policy at Amazon, has joined the American Advertising Federation as VP-government affairs. She takes over for Clark Rector, who is retiring after a 37-year run at AAF.
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which was established in compliance with the executive order signed by President Trump, has hired Valcour LLC, which has close ties with his administration.
