"Big Tobacco" is the unofficial but widely recognized nickname for the tobacco industry in the United States (and likely elsewhere, although usage of the term appears to be most common among Americans). While tobacco products can include cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and (to a much lesser extent nowadays) snuff, the name Big Tobacco is generally applied only to the massive, often multinational corporations that derive the majority of their profits from the manufacture and distribution of cigarettes.

Philip Morris (makers of the ubiquitous Marlboro brand) and R.J. Reynolds (responsible for the slightly less popular but nevertheless formidable Camel cigarettes) are the largest members of Big Tobacco, and often the nickname is used when referring to just these two corporations. Other players in Big Tobacco include Brown & Williamson, Lorillard Tobacco Company, Liggett Group, American Tobacco Company, and British American Tobacco Company. The name is sometimes extended in scope to include special interest groups that serve the tobacco industry in the political arena, such as The Council for Tobacco Research, The Tobacco Institute, and The Center for Indoor Air Research.

For obvious reasons, the competition amongst the members of Big Tobacco historically has been stiff, often cutthroat. However, since 1995 or so, these competing companies have banded together to present a united front against outside opposition, as they were all, at one point or another, named as defendants in multi-billion dollar lawsuits filed by the governments of all 50 states (and 5 U.S. territories as well). The civil suits aimed to recover the states' Medicare and Medicaid losses in paying for the healthcare of smokers with lung cancer and emphysema. The name Big Tobacco comes into play most often when discussing this litigation, as it rolls off the tongue much more easily than the lengthy list of defendants.

The various companies of Big Tobacco employed a coalition of lawyers to negotiate out-of-court settlements in each case. They settled with the states of Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Texas separately before signing the Master Settlement Agreement (sometimes called the Multistate Settlement Agreement, but always abbreviated as MSA) in 1998 which guaranteed compensation to the rest of the states that had filed suit. Between these settlements and class action suits filed on behalf of the smokers themselves, Big Tobacco will be doling out more than $500 billion in damages over a period of 25 years.

The settlement agreements also included several non-monetary stipulations, mostly related to the ways Big Tobacco advertised their products. Specifically, most types of outdoor advertising were restricted (e.g. on public transit or on roadside billboards), advertising that purposefully targeted minors was banned (think Joe Camel), and brand name placement on apparel and other non-tobacco goods was greatly limited (including those offered by direct mail or catalog, such as the Marlboro Miles and Camel Cash programs). Additionally, the tobacco companies had to "commit" to reducing underage smoking. The wording of such a commitment in the texts of the settlement agreements is somewhat nebulous, but suggestions are made as to funding anti-smoking education programs and public service announcements.

Though the mammoth sums required by the settlements have elicited much public moaning and groaning from top executives, it appears that the foundations of Big Tobacco will not be crumbling in the foreseeable future.

Sources:
http://www.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/litigation/
http://www.tobacco.neu.edu/