How Philip Morris Conquered Turkey
How Philip Morris Conquered Turkey
How Philip Morris Conquered Turkey
(fwd)
• To: [email protected]
• Subject: How Philip Morris Conquered Turkey (fwd)
• From: Robert Weissman <[email protected]>
• Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 15:02:14 -0400 (EDT)
By SUEIN L. HWANG
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Under regulatory
and legal fire in the
U.S., tobacco
companies have
been staking their
financial futures in
developing
countries. For
Philip Morris --
which saw
international
tobacco profits grow 60% to $4.6 billion last year from
1994 -- nowhere has that push been more successful
than in Turkey. In the nation that inspired the phrase
"smokes like a Turk," 43% of the 62.9 million population
smokes, according to government estimates, compared
with 25% in the U.S. Meantime, cigarette consumption
in Turkey has increased at an average annual rate of
about 4.76% since 1992, making this one of the
fastest-growing markets in the world. In the U.S.,
smoking has fallen an average of half-a-percent each
year over the same period.
How could Mr. Ozal prod Tekel into the modern age?
He announced in 1984 that foreign tobacco merchants
would be allowed in Turkey for the first time since the
days of the sultans.
A Well-Connected Businessman
State-of-the-Art
Cowboy Salesmen
Enduring Imagery
For young Turks who can't afford such luxuries, the lure
of the Marlboro Man is still powerful. In Bagcilar, far
away in both miles and prosperity from the shopping
malls of Istanbul, Ugur Onder, 20, watches a soccer
game in a trash-strewn field. Mr. Onder still lives with his
mother because he can't afford rent for an apartment.
But he admits to spending half of his income on his
pack-and-a-half daily Marlboro habit. "I need it to pick
up girls and boost my image," he says.
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