Senators on the Spot in New Anti-Smoking Ads

A major anti-smoking group has launched a tough advertising campaign to win the support of key senators for a comprehensive tobacco bill expected to come to a vote in the Senate this month.

The in-your-face newspaper ads, which will begin running today in six states and in other states next week, target senators who have not yet taken a stand on the legislation. They also put Republicans on the spot, underscoring the party’s long alliance with tobacco interests.

The ads, sponsored by the National Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit group, represent the first major effort to counter the tobacco industry’s massive advertising campaign, designed to discourage Congress from approving the comprehensive legislation.

“We’re asking members of Congress whether they are going to stand with Big Tobacco or America’s Kids,” said Kathryn Kahler Vose, communications director for the National Campaign.

Anti-smoking advocates are betting that, even though their ad campaign started after the industry’s, their message will force lawmakers to think hard about the political consequences of opposing a strong anti-smoking measure.

In Colorado, for instance, the ads will show two children underneath a poster of the Marlboro man and head shots of the state’s two Republican senators.

The text of the ads will read, “The tobacco industry is counting on Republicans in Congress to kill legislation that would protect kids from tobacco addiction. Where do Sens. [Wayne] Allard and [Ben Nighthorse] Campbell [both Republicans from Colorado] stand in this important fight?”

The ads will run initially in Colorado, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Missouri.

The tobacco industry began its ad campaign several weeks ago and is expected to spend tens of millions of dollars in 40 markets on print, radio and television ads aimed at stirring up public opposition to the legislation.

The cigarette companies’ ads slam the bill as a tax increase and big bureaucracy, which will create a black market in tobacco--claims that anti-smoking groups say are greatly exaggerated.

The anti-smoking campaign would not say how much it is spending on the ads, except that it will be far less than the cigarette companies. However, this campaign is just the first in a stream of anti-smoking ads that will be launched by anti-smoking and public health groups in coming weeks.

The legislation at issue would raise the price of a pack of cigarettes by at least $1.10 over the next five years and provide money for public health programs, and smoking cessation and prevention efforts. It would also settle the lawsuits brought by 40 states against the tobacco industry to recover the costs of caring for people with smoking-related diseases.

The bill would put a $6.5-billion cap on the amount that the industry would have to pay annually in cases brought by smokers.