British American Tobacco Promotes Its "Corporate Social Responsibility"; Critic Say It's Just PR

"British American Tobacco (BAT) has vowed to plow on with its corporate social responsibility program (CSR) -- despite criticism that its first-ever CSR report is simply a PR exercise," PR Week writes. BAT's released its CSR report last week "after a series of face-to-face forums designed to establish dialogue with its critics." But according to PR Week, more than 130 organizations targeted by BAT refused to participate in the dialogue. The UK anti-smoking group Action on Smoking called BAT's initiative "worthless" and "a PR exercise." PR Week reports no other tobacco company has published a CSR report.