LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet users will have a rare opportunity Tuesday night to talk directly with a top executive in the first-ever-public e-chat with a tobacco company CEO.

In a continuing effort to be open and accessible, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation's chairman and CEO Nick Brookes will answer questions in a ``Virtual Town Hall Meeting'' live on the company's Main Street web site, www.brownandwilliamson.com. The cyberspace meeting starts at 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday, November 23 and will last for one hour. The town hall meeting falls on the first anniversary of the national agreement the major tobacco companies reached with the states' attorneys general a year ago. ``We see this as a great opportunity to talk directly with people and to answer questions they may have,'' said Brookes, who heads the nation's third largest manufacturer of tobacco products. ``One year ago we signed an historic agreement with the states that resulted in changes in the way we conduct our business. That may prompt a number of questions on that front, but we also are prepared to discuss just about anything that may be on the public's mind,'' he said. ``We may well get into a discussion about what we're doing to develop safer products, what we're doing about the youth smoking issue, or even why we are in this controversial business in the first place.'' In Brown & Williamson's Town Hall Meeting, a moderator will take questions from participants and submit them to Brookes for his response. To attend the Town Hall Meeting With a Tobacco CEO, participants need to log on to www.brownandwilliamson.com , click on the ``e-chat'' sign at B&W's Main Street homepage and take a seat in the auditorium for the question and answer meeting with Brown & Williamson CEO Nick Brookes.

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