R.J. Reynolds Tobacco to Discontinue Print Ads for Cigarettes

Source from:  awmanet.org 12/07/2007

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has said that it will discontinue advertising its cigarette brands in newspapers and consumer magazines in 2008. The company will focus its marketing efforts, instead, on direct mail and Web sites for age-verified adult smokers, age-restricted events, and on retail to adult smokers. Company spokesperson Jan Smith said the decision was not connected to recent protests against Camel No. 9 ads or recent criticism of a Camel advertising spread in the November 15 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. The advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine's 40th anniversary issue sparked criticism because the illustrations used looked like cartoons, which are no longer allowed in cigarette ads. The advertising spread has resulted in eight states taking legal action against the tobacco giant over the ad. R.J. Reynolds sent a letter to the National Association of Attorneys General, according to The Hartford Courant, explaining that the material in question was part of Rolling Stone's editorial content and not the R.J. Reynolds advertisement. "I assure you we were surprised and concerned when the issue was published," the company wrote in the letter. Commenting on the advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine, Reynolds spokesperson David Howard said, "Had we been aware of the graphics prepared by Rolling Stone, we would not have advertised adjacent to the gatefold." R.J. Reynolds spokesperson Smith said that the company's decision to discontinue advertising in newspapers and consumer magazines, which was announced to media buyers in October, "was a business decision, designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing programs." Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement that the Rolling Stone advertising spread is the latest example of R.J. Reynolds testing an agreement reached in 1998 on the marketing of tobacco products to youth. Blumenthal is seeking a court order to make R.J. Reynolds comply with the settlement as well as civil penalties and payments for ads and other anti-smoking programs to counteract the Rolling Stone campaign. In Maryland, Attorney General Douglas Gansler filed a lawsuit against the company for $2.5 million seeking to stop the tobacco giant from further distribution of the cartoons and a related CD. Gansler also wants R.J. Reynolds to pay $100 for each Rolling Stone magazine and CD distributed in Maryland. Enditem