In a nationally watched ballot initiative funded by Big Tobacco-led e-cigarette giant, JUUL Labs Inc., the
San Francisco Examiner reported “powerhouse consultant Matt Dorsey came out of retirement from campaign work to help the opposition campaign to Prop. C,” adding that his “long-time connection to the Democratic Party and reputation as a sensible progressive centrist would’ve doomed JUUL’s chances should the Dems have needed moving.”
• As communications director for the S.F. Kids vs. Big Tobacco coalition’s No on Prop C campaign, Matt played a lead role in developing the messaging, research and press strategy that ultimately led JUUL to abandon its citywide campaign — even after the world’s dominant e-cigarette manufacturer had already poured a record-breaking $11.8 into its corporate-sponsored committee.
• He worked with San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton to research and draft what Mission Local described as a
“meticulously detailed” letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — documenting dozens of examples of prohibited modified risk tobacco product claims by JUUL in its Prop C campaign — which led the FDA to
investigate the company’s campaign practices in San Francisco.
• Matt worked alongside coalition partners like the San Francisco-Marin Medical Society, Parents Against Vaping e-Cigarettes (PAVe), former City Attorney Louise Renne and others to research and author opposition arguments, and to develop successful strategies that virtually ran the table of newspaper and political endorsements citywide — despite being outspent my more than 7-to-1.