Tobacco Company to Drop Block 'O' in Ads

Source from:  Thursday, March 13, 2008 dispatch.com ASSOCIATED PRESS  03/14/2008

Ohio State University has asked tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds to stop using the university's famous block "O" in an advertisement for a smokeless-tobacco product. The ad for Camel Snus was brought to the attention of university officials recently by anti-tobacco advocates. The ad used in a newspaper features a man and woman in a nightclub setting with an "O" in the background. Ohio State said attorneys for R.J. Reynolds told the university that the company will no longer use the "O" and is investigating how it got placed in the ad. "It was probably one of the more subtle uses that we've seen, but it was still an attempt to tie the audience of the university into the product," said Rick Van Brimmer, Ohio State's director of trademark and licensing services. In addition to the newspaper ad, the "O" was also used in a brochure. "Selling tobacco by using the logo of a respected university with a sports team that has many youthful fans is manipulative and reprehensible," said Shelly Kiser, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association of Ohio. Enditem