The Advancement of Sound Science Center (TASSC), formerly The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, was an industry-funded lobby group and crisis management vehicle,[1][2] and was created in 1993 by Phillip Morris and APCO in response to a 1992 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report[3] which identified secondhand smoke as a "confirmed"[4] human carcinogen.
[1] The strategies developed by APCO Worldwide (specifically for Philip Morris) and applied through The Advancement of Sound Science Center were highly effective and continue to be successfully used today by many organisations seeking to counter published peer-reviewed mainstream scientific research which might be used in formulating public policies.
This methodology is now called astroturfing -- generally uses so-called "think-tanks", and it works through coordinated local activism, "information sharing" and the strategic creation by APCO and its associates of seeded grassroots organizations.
Under APCO's advice, TASSC developed local coalitions, making them appear to be indigenous grass roots organizations, and used them to influence media, legislators, and the public, and in some cases, to recruit scientists and researchers to support Philip Morris's pro-smoking position.
These were circulated in apparent response to current issues that had attracted public attention, but they often cited similar mass media articles on smoking, which was the fundamental motivation behind the duplicity.
[9] TASSC was created in 1993 by the APCO Worldwide public relations firm, and was funded by tobacco company Philip Morris (now Altria) to help fight against smoking regulations.