sample="rhetorical" bates="00135556" isource="ll" decade="1970" class="ni" date="19761200" Katzenstein Associates 51 Rockwood Drive Parchmont, N.Y. 10538 914-834-7243 NYC# 212-983-3867 LORILLARD FINDS TWO OF ITS BRANDS MEET CRITERIA SET BY GOVERNMENT SMOKING AND HEALTH OFFICIAL Lorillard's TRUE cigarette qualifies at 1½ packs per day when evaluated by the high critical values for tar and nicotine calculated by Dr. Gio B. Gori, Director of the National Cancer Institute's Smoking and Health Program in the December 17 issue of Science magazine. Lorillard's KENT Golden Lights cigarette qualifies at nearly one pack per day when measured by the same criteria. This has been announced by Dr. A. W. Spears, Senior Vice President, at the company's Greensboro, N.C., headquarters where Lorillard researchers applied Dr. Gori's newly announced method of evaluating smoke composition to laboratory data for the company's brands. Lorillard, a unit of Loews Corporation, has been a leader in developing and marketing low tar cigarettes for more than 20 years. The company's KENT cigarette pioneered the development of popular low tar cigarettes in the 1950's. TRUE cigarettes were introduced in 1966, with tar yields around 13 mg per cigarette. This was lowered to 5 mg in the summer of 1976. KENT Golden Lights were introduced to the market in late 1975 and yield 8 mg tar. Today, of all U.S. manufacturers, Lorillard has the largest share of its sales -- over one third -- in low-tar cigarettes and its current growth rate of sales of low-tar cigarettes exceeds the industry's trend in low-tar shares. (Low-tar cigarettes are those yielding 15 mg tar or less, as referred to by the Federal Trade Commission and by John C. Maxwell, Jr., who provides statistics on industry sales.). Commenting on the marked trend to significantly lower tar yields over the years, Dr. Spears explained that Lorillard Research has focused its efforts on ways to effectively reduce tar and other smoke components while still maintaining the essential taste elements that smokers seek. Dr. Gori, who heads the National Cancer Institute's Smoking and Health Program noted that the industry now has the technology for manufacturing cigarettes where a half a pack to a pack per day will meet the criteria he devised. He called for "responsible marketing decisions in the cigarette industry" and for "a major public education drive leading smokers to new patterns of acceptance" of the lower tar cigarette. Commenting on Dr. Gori's article, Curtis H. Judge, President of Lorillard, noted that the qualification of TRUE and KENT Golden Lights under Dr. Gori's criteria reflect the company's long established commitment to developing and marketing cigarettes at reduced levels of tar and nicotine. He added that "in response to ever increasing consumer demand, we are continuing our research to reduce even further the smoke components that do not contribute to taste, while creating tobacco blends that will maintain smoker satisfaction at lower tar levels" -end -