B.A.T. Will Initiate a Five-Part News Release Series in the
Next 10 Days
Business Wire - March 10, 1998 09:46
%BAT-INTERNATIONAL BAAT %CALIFORNIA %FLORIDA %UTAH %AUTOMOTIVE %ENVIRONMENT
%ENMED %ENERGY V%BW P%BW
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 1998--The following is being issued by
B.A.T. International:
During the last month, B.A.T. International (OTC:BAAT) has been inundated with calls, faxes and
e-mails.
The load of calls still number into the thousands and are impossible to answer while still tending to
business. To meet the demand we have upgraded our telephone system. We have groups of
investors that vary from chauffeurs in Hollywood to Naval vessel personnel aboard the USS Curtis
Wilbur to restaurant owners in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (fine italian restaurants -- for the record).
We spend a great deal of time and energy answering many of the same questions over and over,
call-by-call. B.A.T. International has decided to use the Internet to assist in answering the questions
that are asked of us.
The Internet, while a useful tool when utilized correctly, can also be very damaging when rumors and
half-truths are flying back and forth between chat rooms, message boards and the like.
In an unprecedented move, B.A.T. has decided to announce nationally through the wire service, that
it will provide a massive five-part series to address all the issues recently publicized across the local
and national news media papers.
The five-part series will be divided in the following categories: The Media, The Man, The Company,
The SEC and The Future of B.A.T. International.
This five-part series is not only for B.A.T. International investors, but also for every American. The
topics addressed will not only concern B.A.T. International, but also identify universal problems in
other areas concerning important issues.
Check the B.A.T. Web site (http://www.baat.com) for part one, The Media, today.
Comments by Joseph LaStella, President
Of B.A.T. International
Part One
THE MEDIA
Over the last 2 years, there have been hundreds of newspaper/tech magazines and TV/Radio
coverage of B.A.T. International (OTC:BAAT) and B.A.T. subsidiary companies' accomplishments.
The majority has been very positive except for the past month.
During the previous years, B.A.T. has set many new records including three world records set in
1997 as follows:
A. In February 1997, in sub-freezing temperatures in Utah, a
B.A.T. electric mini-van clocked 478 miles on a single charge.
B. In June at Alameda Air Station in San Francisco, a B.A.T.
Asian-type taxi traveled 1043 miles on a single charge.
C. In August a B.A.T. electric bicycle traveled 443 miles on a
single charge at the Olympic Velodrome in Long Beach, Calif.
In January and again in February of 1998, B.A.T. successfully demonstrated and showcased a new
technology in front of a world audience. On two separate occasions, B.A.T. invited all the major
corporations to witness and certify to their satisfaction the demonstration of the technology.
Many of the major companies responded at least at the engineering level. To say the least, their
engineers were very excited to participate in the event. However, one by one, each company
declined when the decision to attend reached their upper management and/or legal department.
Each national event (Jan. 15, 1998 and Feb. 10, 1998) still was well attended by public and press
and was certified by nationally known automotive representatives (see press releases Feb. 11,
1998).
The B.A.T. "Supercar" was modified with Dolphin Pulse Charge Technology, which can be
incorporated into any internal combustion engine. The "Supercar" is not an electric car nor is it a
hybrid car, instead it is a super-efficient modified production vehicle. The two demonstrations were
certified and measured 92.5 and 93.7 (respectively) miles on one gallon of fuel.
The technology and demonstration sparked interest in B.A.T. International stock, which became
very active and stock prices fluctuated dramatically and caused the SEC to take interest and
subpoena B.A.T. to produce records. The media zeroed in on the subpoena and an overwhelming
number of negative news articles were generated.
I suppose it's the American way that bad press sells newspapers and that's okay provided the news
stories are not bias and contain factual accounts. Without going into details, it is obvious to anyone
that followed the B.A.T. articles in the press that B.A.T. was not treated fairly.
Accounts of the events were in many cases totally distorted and untrue. For example, the technical
writer from one of the major newspapers (spent 5 hours at B.A.T. facilities during an in-depth
interview) had no engineering background and was hardly able to ask one intelligent engineering
question during the interview.
Furthermore, the news media use of self-generated adjectives to slant the story into a sense of doubt
is unjustifiable slander. Adjectives like boasting, barnstorming, frenzy, wild, stunt, distressful,
manipulated, draws a bead, evoke, loosely, fade away, professing, promote and many more.
Is this "yellow journalism?," you decide. Unfortunately unlike the sophisticated financial investor, the
small investor does make financial decisions based on non-financial news media. The bias media
articles influenced many small investors in making financial decisions as indicated by the large number
of small block shares being traded.
Furthermore, other "so called" financial Internet advisers were even more delinquent in their
reporting. The "Stock Detective" published a two-page report titled, "B.A.T. Out of Here," which
was filled with nonsense about B.A.T.
B.A.T. posted a four-page response to the "Stock Detective" that clearly presented factual evidence
of the superficial investigative prowess and downright wrong information, which hurt the small
investors.
The negative publicity has not hurt B.A.T. in any way. Someone once stated, "There is no such thing
as bad press." All of B.A.T.'s subsidiary companies continue to expand their influence around the
world with their technology (Please review the company overview on our Web site).
In conclusion, let us not lose site of the basis of the news media attention. First there was the national
demonstration and showcasing of the new Pulse Charge Technology, then the subpoena for B.A.T.
records by the SEC, and then the media's overwhelming reaction which suggested B.A.T. was
somehow involved in the erratic trading behavior of B.A.T. stock.
B.A.T. is a very aggressive company and has tremendous support from our stockholders, general
public, political community, environmental community and many other organizations.
B.A.T. is very strong in Europe and Asia. B.A.T. will not allow any group, company or organization
to manipulate B.A.T. B.A.T. has launched its own investigation into the erratic trading of B.A.T.
stock during previous weeks and will present a full report to the American public via its Web site
and to identify the source of its stock behavior.
CONTACT: B.A.T. International
Joseph LaStella, 818/565-5555
818/565-5559 (fax)
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