The role of tobacco advertising and promotion: themes employed in litigation by tobacco industry witnesses.

Objectives: To identify key themes related to tobacco advertising and promotion in testimony provided by tobacco industry-affiliated witnesses in tobacco litigation, and to present countervailing evidence and arguments.

Methods: Themes in industry testimony were identified by review of transcripts of testimony in the Tobacco Deposition and Trial Testimony Archive (http://tobaccodocuments.org/datta) from a sample of defence witnesses, including three academic expert witnesses, six senior executives of tobacco companies, and one industry advertising consultant.