Green Eggs And Spitless Tobacco?

Source from:  By Peter Korn The Portland Tribune Nov 20, 2006 (4 Reader comments) 11/23/2006

Ad campaign targets kids, county health advocate claims Kylie Meiner is so angry she could spit. Except spitting, or not spitting, is exactly what has Multnomah County's tobacco prevention coordinator upset in the first place. Meiner is working to reduce smoking and its effects, especially in youths. And along comes Camel Snus. Snus, marketed as flavored, scentless, spitless tobacco, isn't available nationwide. But producer R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is test-marketing the product in two metropolitan areas - Austin, Texas, and Portland. And Meiner, who has been following the Snus newspaper ads, store displays and direct mail, is convinced R.J. Reynolds' test marketing is aimed directly at kids. Meiner was particularly upset by a local newspaper ad that she said read, "Use it in a car, in a house, in a bar." "It kind of sounds like a Dr. Seuss rhyme scheme," Meiner said. A piece of direct mail Meiner said she received read, "Camel Snus, be the first on your block to try it." "I don't care about being the first on my block to try things," Menier said. "But I know 12-year-olds that do." David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds in Greensboro, N.C., denied Snus is being marketed at youths. "It's against the law to sell the product to minors," Howard said. "We wholeheartedly support that." Meiner isn't convinced. Snus comes in pouches of original flavor, frost and spice. "The reason tobacco companies flavor products is because they want to attract kids," Meiner said. And Snus, because it contains less moisture and salt than other chewing tobaccos, doesn't require spitting. Which means, Meiner said, that a kid chewing Snus would be indistinguishable from a kid chewing less-harmful chewing gum. "It doesn't make you spit, so a school kid could use this in their classroom and look like they're just chewing gum," Meiner said. Jan Margosian, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Justice, agrees with Meiner about the intended test market for Snus. "I think it's totally targeted toward our kids," Margosian said. "Do you think adult users would be interested in having it taste different or (having) no smell or not being able to tell you're using it? I don't think adults would care about that. But kids would." Margosian said that people started calling the state Department of Justice and complaining about Snus and its marketing campaign almost as soon as the product hit the Portland market this past summer. And the public was aware of the department's interest, Margosian said, because over the summer the department went after flavored cigarettes believed to be aimed at youths. A month ago the department, along with attorneys general in 38 other states, succeeded in getting R.J. Reynolds to stop selling flavored cigarettes. Now, Margosian said, the department is gathering evidence against Snus and its possibly youth-targeted campaign. But R.J. Reynolds' Howard stressed the adult population in explaining why the company chose Portland as one of the two test markets. "In Portland, there's strong brand recognition among adult smokers for the Camel brand," he said. He added that the company "felt these markets were good ones to provide us with good learning about the product." Enditem