Ad Execs in Campaign to Alter Tobacco Marketing

Joe Camel and other ad campaigns that appeal to younger consumers are coming under some friendly fire.

A group of advertising executives joined anti-smoking advocates Wednesday in New York to launch a national campaign in an attempt to shame the U.S. advertising industry into eliminating cigarette ads that are attracting teenagers.

The move comes after recent studies found that smoking is on the rise among teenagers and the announcement of government regulations aimed at curbing cigarette marketing to underage consumers. Those regulations, drafted by the Food and Drug Administration, are the focus of a tobacco industry legal battle.

In a separate development Wednesday, the state of Arizona said it has revised its tobacco lawsuit to accuse the industry of contributing to the delinquency of minors through certain marketing strategies.

An attorney for one major company said the delinquency claim is without merit because tobacco companies don’t market or sell cigarettes to juveniles.

According to the advertising executives, a more immediate way to restrict the way cigarettes are marketed is for the ad industry to stop running ads that could appear to be aimed at younger consumers, such as Joe Camel and other cartoons and those with athletic themes. The group, called the Initiative on Tobacco Advertising, will run print ads in trade publications targeting ad agencies, and it plans to host a meeting on tobacco ads early next year.

“There comes a time when 1st Amendment rights for freedom of speech in advertising should be outstripped by personal and industry responsibility,” said David Milenthal, chairman of HMS Partners, a Cincinnati-based agency. “Tobacco may be legal, but selling it to children is illegal. We need to take some responsibility as an industry.”

But some ad executives are resisting the idea, saying cigarettes are a legal product that should not be subject to separate standards. The American Assn. of Advertising Agencies filed suit challenging the FDA rules, saying they violate 1st Amendment guarantees.