R. H. Mereness and D. Poutiatine to C. R. Dahl on Crown Zellerbach's "Adios Asbestos" Ad (1977)

Two letters of October 27, 1977, to C. R. Dahl, chief executive of Crown Zellerbach, about an advertisement for an asbestos substitute that Mini Fibers, Inc. marketed for Crown Zellerbach, which ran in Modern Paint and Coatings in September 1977 and is attached. The ad showed a gravestone marked "Asbestos (Killer) R.I.P." and said of the substitute, "It may not cure CANCER, but it won't cause it." R. H. Mereness of the Asbestos Information Association called it "a fanciful, specious message to impugn a vital industry"; D. Poutiatine of Johns-Manville Sales Corporation asked Dahl to have Mini Fibers withdraw this kind of advertising.

What it shows

Mereness wrote that exposure to excessive dust "may be hazardous to health" but that dust was now controlled "to medically accepted levels," and that fibers in paints and coatings were "locked in or encapsulated." Poutiatine noted that a Crown Zellerbach affiliate in Holland was a large asbestos user and suggested the best course was "to avoid quietly any chance of further damage to an important industry." The letters show the industry moving to stop a competitor's advertising that called asbestos a killer.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

R.R. Mereness letter to C.R. Dahl (Chief Executive Officer, Crown Zellerbach), 10/27/77, regarding an advertisement for MiniFibers (Crown Zellerbach product) which appeared in the September 1977 issue of Modern Paint and Coatings. The ad, which is attached, is for an asbestos substitute produced by Crown Zellerbach. The ad is entitled "Adios Asbestos" and shows a grave marker with the words "Asbestos (Killer) RIP. Born: Died: 1977." The ad also states "Mini Fibers ... does it all! It may not cure cancer, but it won't cause it." Mereness states that he finds it difficult to believe that Crown Zellerbach, a respected leader in the industrial community and a user of asbestos for many years, would condone such an advertisement. Mereness then discusses the inaccuracies of the ad and asks Dahl for a response. D. Poutiatine (Vice President and Director of Marketing, J-M) letter to C.R. Dahl, 10/27/77, regarding the above-referenced ad and requesting Crown Zellerbach not to use this type of advertising in the future.

About this copy

This is document 701 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002534 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002538.