Table 1 Policy dystopia model

Discursive strategies

Expand policy costs

Unanticipated costs to the economy and society

Unintended benefits to undeserving groups

Unintended costs to public health

Deny policy benefits

Deny intended public health benefits

Argue costs to targeted industry

Instrumental strategies

Coalition management

Establish relationships with key opinion leaders and health organizations

Seek involvement in the community

Establish relationships with the media

Constituency fabrication

Opposition fragmentation and destabilisation

Information and messaging

Production of information

Amplification of supportive evidence

Suppression of opposing evidence

Presenting information in a credible manner

Direct involvement and influence in policy

Indirect access to policymakers

Offering of incentives

Making of threats

Actor in government decision making

Legal actions

Use legal action (or threat of) in opposition to pro - health actors

Influence the development of trade and investment agreements

Illicit trade

Facilitating or conducting of smuggling

Corporate motivations

Weakening of the policy

Corporate lobbying aiming to weaken a proposed policy.

Delay of the policy

Corporate lobbying aiming to delay a proposed policy.

Defeat of the policy

Corporate lobbying aiming to prevent the implementation of a proposed policy.

Avoiding or circumventing the policy

Changes to corporate policy or products to circumvent introduced policies.

Overturning the policy (rear - facing strategy)

Corporate lobbying aiming to remove an implemented policy.

Foreclosing (pre - empting) the policy (future - facing strategy)

Corporate lobbying aiming to prevent the proposition of a policy in the future.