Tobacco Ads Still Seek Teens, Study Finds

The multibillion-dollar national tobacco pact has failed to end a torrent of cigarette advertising targeted at teenage magazine readers, a study found.

The study, published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, says cigarette makers have kept up a high level of spending for magazine ads targeted at children of middle school and high school age.

The study’s two Boston-based authors say magazine ads for cigarette brands popular with teenagers reached 82% of them last year. That is down from 88% in 1999, but the study’s authors say the latest figure is still too high.

The major tobacco companies spent $127 million last year advertising brands popular with young people in such magazines as People, TV Guide, Sports Illustrated, Motor Trend, Mademoiselle and Rolling Stone.

The study data came from the state of California, which has joined several other states in asking courts to punish R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., contending it has violated its promise to stop marketing to youngsters.

“Our findings suggest that the tobacco settlement was a total failure in terms of protecting kids from cigarette advertising,” said Dr. Michael Siegel, a public health specialist at Boston University and co-author of the study.

Ellen Merlo, a spokeswoman for Philip Morris U.S.A., said the “overall profile of tobacco has been dramatically reduced in this country.”

She said industry standards are needed so that all cigarette makers work under the same guidelines.

R.J. Reynolds spokeswoman Jan Smith said the company only advertises in magazines with mostly adult readership.

In the November 1998 legal settlement, tobacco companies agreed to pay a total of $206 billion to 46 states by 2025. An additional $40 billion in separate settlements was previously negotiated by four other states.

Manufacturers agreed to forgo advertising specifically aimed at youths, ban use of cartoon characters in ads or promotions, extend restrictions on billboard advertising and take other actions.