Altria has employed massive do-gooding to compensate for its bad-doing. The arts patron formerly known as Philip Morris has given $210 million to cultural groups over the last four decades. As part of its restructuring, Altria will be phasing out its support of the arts, according to a report in today's New York Times. The impact on the arts community will be huge. Next year, only half of the tobacco giant's 272 current arts grantees will be lucky enough to receive the embers of Altria's arts funding. The following year, the funding will be almost completely stubbed out.
This is outrageous. No company needs to demonstrate its corporate responsibility more than Altria, and it has done so as a major arts patron. They are now showing the skin on the other side by turning their back on cultural institutions.
Perhaps the former arts grantees should band together and put on a grand performance--at Altria's headquarters. Something to the tune of asking Altria if all the good they did was purely to influence the stock for its Kraft Foods spinoff.
Shame on Altria.
-Steve Adler
Cause For Concern
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