Ban Urged on Camel Symbol in Tobacco Ads : Marketing: The FTC staff’s criticism of the character lights up debate over free speech, federal regulation.

The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has called for a ban on the puckish cartoon dromedary that promotes Camel cigarettes on the grounds that it entices minors to smoke.

The FTC staff has sent its recommendation to the full commission, whose five members are expected to act within the next month. Camel cigarettes are made by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Experts say the proposal would mark an unprecedented expansion in federal regulation of advertising. The government has banned cigarette advertising on radio and television for more than 20 years, and the FTC now requires that print cigarette ads display the health hazard warning printed on the cigarette packages.

The recommendation follows a call last year by then-U.S. Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello, along with leaders of the American Medical Assn., to scrap the ad.

Nevertheless, the FTC faces an uphill battle in launching any effort to bury the Joe Camel symbol because of widespread concerns that the agency may infringe on the free-speech rights of advertisers.

“I’m very concerned about the idea of the government targeting a particular ad campaign--not on the grounds that it is deceptive but that it is generally unfair,” said Dan Troy, a Washington lawyer who has testified before Congress on cigarette advertising and has represented the American Advertising Federation.

“Many people believe that junk food is unhealthy,” Troy said. “Does that mean that the Ronald McDonald character can’t be used because he appeals to children?”

A spokeswoman for RJR Nabisco, the tobacco concern’s parent firm, said the company has been in touch with the FTC concerning the staff recommendation, but said the discussions were confidential.

However, in a statement, Reynolds defended the campaign saying: “If we believed for a minute that Camel advertising induces children to smoke, we would not wait for the FTC or anyone else to act. We would immediately change the campaign.”

The 6-year-old ad campaign has elevated Camel to the nation’s No. 8 cigarette brand, with a market share of 3.7% in the second quarter of 1993, according to industry estimates. RJR Nabisco has been desperately battling to gain market share from rival Philip Morris, which makes Marlboros, the country’s leading cigarette.

Yet news of the FTC action stirred little concern in financial markets Wednesday as many industry analysts predicted that the ad campaign may run out of steam before the government takes any final action.

“This whole advertising campaign is really getting old,” said Gary Black, an industry analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “Camel is positioned at young adults. (And) 18- to 24-year-olds like to see things new.”

Though heartened by the staff recommendation, anti-smoking groups expressed their own doubts.

“It will be a pretty daunting legal task,” said Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen Health Research Group in Washington, which was part of a coalition of health groups that first complained about the Camel ads in 1989.