INTRODUCTION
Industry-based front groups can serve as powerful tools when businesses attempt to avoid government regula- tion(1). In 1994, RJ Reynolds started a ‘coalition’ called Get Government Off Our Back (GGOOB). By creating an organization that was not explicitly sponsored by the tobacco industry, RJ Reynolds gained endorsements from non-industry groups to support the industry’s views against government regulation (2,3). It later became evident that GGOOB was actually a front group created by the tobacco industry to fight regulation (3,4). The tobacco industry receivedconsiderable negative press when the media disclosed that the group purporting to be comprised of concerned citizens was actually an industry-initiated effort.