Note from Campaign
for Tobacco Free Kids:
TO: Reporters Covering Tobacco and Editorial Writers
FROM: Matthew L. Myers, President
DATE: April 24, 2006
RE: R.J. Reynolds Continues to Market to Kids, Oppose Policies to Reduce
Smoking
The tobacco companies never miss an opportunity to claim they are reformed
and no longer want kids to smoke. But their actions continue to show
otherwise. For example, the most recent actions by the R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Company, the company that once marketed cigarettes to kids with
the cartoon character Joe Camel, are as egregious as
ever. In the past two years, R.J. Reynolds has with increasing frequency
introduced youth-oriented marketing campaigns and has
stepped up their efforts around the country to defeat proven measures
to reduce smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke, such as cigarette
tax increases and smoke-free workplace laws.
What has the current R.J. Reynolds been doing?
- This year, Reynolds is promoting a new version of its Camel brand,
called Camel Wides, with hip bar parties that feature graffiti artists.
(See Images at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/camel/wides.php)
- In December 2005, state Attorneys General exposed an R.J. Reynolds
promotion called "Drinks on Us" in which Reynolds mailed
customers celebrating their birthdays a promotional package that contained
six drink coasters and promoted excessive drinking.(See Images at
www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/camel/drinksonus.php)
- In a marketing ploy introduced since the 1998 state tobacco settlement,
Reynolds continues to market candy-flavored cigarettes that are clearly
aimed at children. (See Images at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/targeting#ads)
- In January 2005, more than 10 years after tobacco executives refused
to acknowledge under oath to Congress that their products cause disease,
R.J. Reynolds' chief executive officer Andrew Schindler, once again
under oath in a federal court, refused to acknowledge that smoking
causes disease.
R.J. Reynolds' marketing behavior led the U.S. Department of Justice
in 2005 to call the company a "serial violator" of the 1998
state tobacco settlement. State attorneys general have sued R.J.
Reynolds numerous times for violating the settlement's prohibition on
marketing to children. R.J. Reynolds' efforts to defeat public policies
that have been proven to reduce tobacco use are equally egregious. For
example:
- In South Carolina, R.J. Reynolds used free alcohol, free cigarettes
and scantily clad young women to lure South Carolina bar customers into
signing a petition opposing an increase in the state's lowest in the
nation cigarette tax.
- R.J. Reynolds recently sought to join a lawsuit before the Delaware
Supreme Court to kill the highly successful truth® youth anti-smoking
marketing campaign conducted by the American Legacy Foundation.
- R.J. Reynolds is leading the fight to defeat a proposed cigarette
tax hike increase in Texas and has fought smoke-free workplace laws
across the country.
In fact, R.J. Reynolds has become increasingly desperate in its efforts
to defeat cigarette tax increases, smoke-free workplace laws and other
tobacco prevention measures because a growing number of states and communities
have adopted these measures and are enjoying the many health and financial
benefits that result from them. Dating back to 2002, 41 states have
increased cigarette taxes, more than doubling the average state cigarette
tax from 43.4 cents to 91.7 cents a pack. Thirteen states, Washington,
DC and Puerto Rico have now passed strong smoke-free laws that include
restaurants and bars, as have hundreds of cities and countries. These
measures are proven to reduce smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke,
thereby improving health, saving lives and saving billions of dollars
in tobacco-caused health care costs. Only the tobacco industry's bottom
line suffers.
Below is a list of the most egregious examples
of R.J. Reynolds’ harmful actions since the 1998 state tobacco
settlement.
Still Marketing to Kids
- R.J. Reynolds' most recent campaign, introduced in Spring 2006,
again associates smoking with rebellious behavior that appeals
to youth. Reynolds is currently promoting a new version of
its Camel brand, called Camel Wides, with hip bar parties that feature
graffiti artists and "rave" style paraphernalia such
as glow-in-the-dark necklaces and offers to party-goers to get real
tattoos at a discount. (See Images at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/camel/wides.php)
- In December 2005, several state attorneys general expressed outrage
at R.J. Reynolds' "Drinks on Us" promotion in which the
tobacco company mailed customers celebrating their birthdays a promotional
package that contained six drink coasters. Each coaster was imprinted
with a recipe for a mixed drink — some containing as
many as five shots of alcohol per drink — and slogans
encouraging excessive drinking such as “Layer it
on, go ’til daybreak.” The attorneys general charged
the promotion was encouraging unhealthy behavior by young people,
including both smoking and binge drinking. After rejecting private
requests to stop the promotion, R.J. Reynolds finally ended it after
the attorneys general went public and distillers complained that Reynolds
was making unauthorized use of their brands. (See Images at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/camel/drinksonus.php)
- In January 2006, R.J. Reynolds opened the first "upscale"
tobacco lounge in Chicago to sell the company's high-end "Marshall
McGearty" cigarettes. The lounge and its marketing present cigarette
smoking as socially attractive and trendy, increasing its appeal to
kids who want nothing more than to be like hip young adults. It also
circumvents Chicago's new smoke-free workplace law.
- R.J. Reynolds continues to introduce and market new versions of
its candy and fruit-flavored Camel cigarettes with
names like Kauai Kolada, Twista Lime, Warm Winter Toffee and Mocha
Mint. These so-called Camel Exotic Blends, first introduced in 1999,
have come in fruit flavors such as berry, lime, coconut and citrus;
sweet flavors such as vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, mint and coffee;
and alcohol flavors such as bourbon. A Harvard
School of Public Health study published in November 2005 concluded,
“Flavored cigarettes can
promote youth initiation and help young occasional smokers to become
daily smokers by masking the natural harshness and taste
of tobacco smoke and increasing the acceptability of a toxic product.”
Internal tobacco industry documents show that the companies have long
been aware that flavored tobacco products have their greatest appeal
among young, new users. R.J. Reynolds has fought state and federal
legislation to ban candy-flavored cigarettes. (See Images at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/targeting#ads)
- Since promising in the 1998 tobacco settlement to stop marketing
to kids, R.J. Reynolds and the other cigarette manufacturers have
increased their overall marketing
expenditures by 125 percent to $15.1 billion —
$41 million a day — in 2003, the most recent year for which
the Federal Trade Commission has reported cigarette marketing expenditures.
Most of these marketing dollars are now spent on price discounts,
which have the greatest impact on kids, the most price-sensitive customers.
Reynolds' Camel cigarettes remain the second most popular brand among
kids, after Philip Morris' Marlboros, according to the federal government's
National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health.
- In 2004, state attorneys general sued Brown & Williamson (now
part of R.J. Reynolds) for violating the 1998 tobacco settlement by
marketing to African-American kids with its Kool
Mixx marketing campaign, which featured a hip-hop music theme, including
a music CD and cigarette packaging and advertising with hip-hop imagery.
B&W settled the actions in October 2004, agreeing to restrictions
on their future Kool Mixx promotions and to pay $1.46 million to support
youth smoking prevention programs. (See Images at www.tobaccofreekids.org/adgallery/display.php3?ID=406)
- Despite being sanctioned for the Kool Mixx campaign, R.J.Reynolds
in 2005 again launched a music-themed Kool marketing campaign, this
time aimed at both African-American and Latino youth. This
Kool Be True advertising campaign featured young, hip, multi-ethnic
models, often with musical instruments, and appeared in magazines
popular with young African-Americans and Latinos, including Jet, Essence,
Latina and Cosmopolitan En Espanol. (See images at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/ethnic/)
- Despite repeated criticism, R.J. Reynolds continues to advertise
cigarettes in magazines with large youth readerships,
such as Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone and People. This advertising
continues despite the December 2004 settlement of a lawsuit brought
by the state of California that alleged R.J. Reynolds violated the
tobacco settlement by advertising in magazines read by large numbers
of kids. In that settlement, Reynolds agreed to pay $17.3 million
in civil penalties and legal costs and to limit, but not end, its
cigarette advertising in magazines with large youth readerships.
- In December 2005, the California Supreme Court upheld lower court
judgments that R.J. Reynolds six times had violated a state law banning
the free distribution of cigarettes at events attended by
minors.
- In December 2004, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld a lower court finding
that R.J. Reynolds had violated the tobacco settlement by distributing
matchbooks with cigarette advertising. The settlement prohibits tobacco
brand advertising on non-tobacco merchandise.
Still Deceiving the Public
R.J. Reynolds continues to deny the health risks of smoking and secondhand
smoke and to market some of its brands as a safer alternative despite
the lack of evidence that this is in fact the case:
- In 2005, while testifying during the trial of the federal government's
tobacco lawsuit, Andrew Schindler, Reynolds' chairman, refused to
admit, under oath, that smoking causes disease. In prepared testimony,
Schindler also refused to admit that smoking is addictive. Even today
on its website, R.J.Reynolds only admits that “smoking,
in combination with other factors, causes disease in some individuals.”
- Despite the overwhelming evidence, R.J. Reynolds continues to dispute
that secondhand smoke poses significant health risks.
- Since 2000, R.J. Reynolds has marketed its Eclipse cigarettes as
presenting "less risk of cancer" and other diseases despite
the lack of independent scientific evidence that this is, in fact,
the case. In July 2005, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell sued
R.J. Reynolds, charging that these claims about Eclipse violated both
state consumer protection laws and the tobacco settlement, which prohibits
tobacco companies from making material representations regarding the
health consequences of using a tobacco product. The lawsuit is pending.
- In 1999, the Federal Trade Commission ordered R.J. Reynolds to stop
its "No Bull" advertising campaign for Winston cigarettes
that suggested Winston had no additives, thereby making it less hazardous.
The FTC forced Reynolds to add a packaging and advertising label making
it clear that there are no health benefits from smoking Winston.
Still Opposing Proven Solutions
- R.J. Reynolds has led efforts at all levels
of government to fight scientifically proven measures to reduce tobacco
use. At the state and local level, Reynolds has fought tobacco
tax increases and smoke-free workplace legislation, going so far as
to set up and fund groups such as "MySmokersRights.com"
to oppose such policies. At the federal level, R.J.Reynolds has led
the fight against legislation to grant the FDA authority over tobacco,
which among other things would stop Reynolds' candy-flavored cigarettes
and other marketing to kids as well as its unproven health claims
about Eclipse.
- R.J. Reynolds has made millions in political campaign contributions
and frequently flown politicians on its corporate jets, buying influence
in its efforts to defeat legislation to reduce tobacco use. U.S. Rep.
Tom DeLay (R-TX) in October 2005 flew to Houston aboard an RJR corporate
jet to attend his arraignment on money-laundering charges.
- In 2003, R.J. Reynolds and the Lorillard Tobacco Company filed a
lawsuit that claimed California's tobacco prevention ads vilified
the tobacco companies and sought to shut down the ads, which
have been among the most effective in the country. A federal
judge found no merit to the litigation and threw it out. In February
2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the companies' appeal.
- R.J. Reynolds offers a so-called youth tobacco prevention program,
called Right Decisions, Right Now, that offers no reasons
not to smoke and presents smoking as an acceptable adult habit, increasing
its appeal to kids who want nothing more than to appear more grown
up. Reynolds has been paying Miss American state pageant
winners to promote the program in schools despite the complete
lack of scientific evidence that it is at all effective.
(See press release at www.tobaccofreekids.org/Script/DisplayPressRelease.php3?Display=901)
*************
If you have any questions or would like additional information, please
call Joel Spivak at 202-296-5469.
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