Nation IN BRIEF : NATIONWIDE : Cigarette Maker Defends New Brand

James W. Johnston, chairman and chief executive officer of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., confirmed the firm plans to test market a new cigarette named Dakota but said the campaign “is focused on current adult Marlboro smokers--nothing more, nothing less.” The Washington Post reported that a proposed marketing plan prepared by Promotional Marketing Inc. suggests Dakota be positioned to replace Marlboro as the brand of choice among young white women with no education beyond high school. The proposed campaign described the type of woman targeted as one who watches “Roseanne” and evening soap operas on television, and who hopes to get married in her early 20s and spend her free time “with her boyfriend doing whatever he is doing,” according to the report.