Redesigning a Prescription for a Better World: CVS Quits Cigarettes for Good

Originally published on Sustainable Brands

CVS realized that selling cigarettes was inconsistent with its mission as a pharmacy to make people healthier. So the company decided to abandon an estimated $2B annually by discontinuing the sale of tobacco, leading to what some are calling the "CVS Effect": brands making bold and risky changes to reflect their principles. At SB'14, Eileen Howard Boone, SVP of CSR for CVS, discussed the overwhelmingly positive stakeholder, influencer, and social support for the move and the consumer response.

About Eileen Howard Boone
Eileen Howard Boone is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy at CVS Caremark. In this unique role, she leads a team responsible for implementing a wide range of communications, philanthropic and CSR programs that align with the company’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health.

Eileen is also the President of the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, the private foundation of CVS Caremark. In this role, she oversees the foundation’s charitable giving and is responsible for creating and managing strategic partnerships with non-profit organizations that share in the Trust’s commitment to provide greater access to health care in communities nationwide.

Prior to her current role, Eileen served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Community Relations for the company and led media relations, internal communications and events over a 10-year period of rapid growth and evolution, which included the merger of CVS/pharmacy and Caremark and the acquisition of Longs Drugs, former Osco Drug, Sav-On Drugs and Eckerd stores.

Eileen is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and received her MBA from Fordham University in marketing and finance. Prior to joining CVS Caremark, she gathered a wide range of executive-level experience at JP Morgan, Talbots and Office Depot. She is a mother of six and resides in Barrington, Rhode Island.

About Sustainable Brands
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