Magazine Spread Ignites Tobacco Suit

Source from:  Wednesday, December 5, 2007 By James Nash THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH  12/11/2007

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. thought it was promoting obscure rock bands with a nine-page magazine spread, but the tobacco giant also was promoting smoking among youth, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann alleged in a lawsuit filed yesterday. Dann and counterparts from seven other states sued the company over cartoon imagery in a spread titled "Indie Rock Universe" that ran in the Nov. 15 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Dann is seeking $5 million from the claim filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The sum equals $100 per Ohio reader of Rolling Stone, plus $100 from each resident of the state who registered on a Web site that was part of the promotion. Dann's office says R.J. Reynolds violated the terms of a 1998 agreement between the tobacco companies and the states that, among other things, barred the use of cartoons in cigarette advertising. That prohibition was intended to avoid a repeat of R.J. Reynolds' "Joe Camel" advertising campaign of the late 1980s and '90s, which was shown to increase tobacco use among teenagers. "General Dann has no compunction about using all of the powers of his office to stop them," said Michael W. Deemer, chief deputy attorney general for governmental affairs. "This company must be held accountable for violating the (settlement agreement) and endangering kids." Dann did not personally appear at a news conference on the issue because he was with his father-in-law at the hospital, aides said. R.J. Reynolds spokesman David P. Howard said the images in question were not part of the company's advertising but editorial content generated by Rolling Stone. The company's Camel brand was named as the sponsor of the "Indie Rock Universe" package but had no control over editorial content, said magazine spokeswoman Beth Jacobson. Dann's office cited not only the Rolling Stone-generated part of the package but also pages that were clearly labeled as Camel advertisements. Those pages do not include recognizable cartoon characters, but rather impressionistic images of farm scenes with animals and people. "Those are the kinds of things children are very attracted to," said Susan Walker, the head of Dann's tobacco division. Howard said the images in question are not cartoons and do not violate the settlement. Ohio also is suing R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies for allegedly withholding part of the money they are required to deposit into a settlement fund. That case, which seeks about $76 million, is being held up on a technicality, Walker said. Enditem