Tobacco Ads Continue to Appear in Youth-Read Magazines August 16, 2001
News Summary
Tobacco companies continue to place ads in magazines with a high youth readership, ignoring an agreement made as part of the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement, the New York Times reported Aug. 15.As part of the nationwide tobacco settlement with U.S. states, the tobacco industry agreed to end advertising in magazines that appeal to young readers. Despite the agreement, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that three of the major tobacco companies continue to advertise in such magazines as Rolling Stone, People, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, and TV Guide.
R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard contend that the advertisement limits contained in the 1998 settlement were only guidelines, not laws. But California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who participated in the settlement three years ago, said the tobacco companies have violated a pledge they made in writing.
As part of the settlement, tobacco companies agreed not to place cigarette ads in magazines where more than 15 percent of the readers are under 18. Lockyer said the companies promised never to "take any action directly or indirectly to target youth in the advertising, promotion, or marketing of tobacco products."
"R.J. Reynolds and other companies agreed not to market to kids, and based on our surveys, they still are," Lockyer said. He, along with attorneys general of Oregon, New York, Ohio, and Washington are suing R.J. Reynolds for its broad definition of an adult magazine. The lawsuit accuses the company of "continuously and systematically targeting youth" by placing large numbers of cigarette ads in magazines with a large teenage readership.
Jan Smith, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds, countered, "We do not advertise in magazines that target minors. We only advertise in magazines that are read by adults."
Philip Morris, the largest tobacco company, is the only one of the major companies to abide by the agreement, ending advertisements in 50 magazines with young readership.
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