Tobacco Documents Online

~€je ~ast~inqton ~;une~ Advertisers call tobacco proposal a virtual ban By Karen Riley nrt wsN.pTamnmEs The cigarette ad of the future will consist of black type on a white page that reads: "Marlboro Cigarettes - A Nicotine-Delivery. Device" Gone will be the colorful Kool clocks marking the time in gas sta- tion minimarts and curbside Camel signs promising gas, coffee, cigarettes and newspapers. Gone too will be the Marlboro signs on shopping baskets at the nation's 7- Elevens. And countryside barns will have to paint over signs for Red Man chewing tobacco. "They want the ads to become invisible" complains Daniel Jaffe, executive vice president of the As- sociation of National Advertisers, lambasting the Food and Drug Ad- ministration's sweeping new rules released last week aimed at curb- ing teen-age smoking. "The government has now be- come the copywriter and the ad director for tobacco advertising. They can speak through your ads, but you can't. It's a very substan- tial step in a free society" Mr. Jaffe said. After a week of examining the fine print of the new cigarette and smokeless-tobacco rules, adver- tisers say the FDA proposal is po- tentially even more damaging than they first thought. Industry officials say that a closer look at the regulations shows that advertisers would be limited to using only ads that ei- ther no one will notice or compa- nies won't want to run. "We think this whole thing is a complete tobacco ban:' scoffed John Fithian, a lawyer with the Washington firm of Patton Boggs who is representing the natton's six major advertising associations m a lawsuit to block the new rule. For convenience stores. race- tracks, farmers and others who agree to carry cigarette advertis- mq, the FDA rule also means lost fees, such as the 310 a month RJR Nabisco Inc. pays minimarts to display its Camel tank-top prnmo- tton. MONUAY, AUGUST 21, 1995 PAGE A1 "My folks are going to be under the gun. Cigarettes are profitable. They do much more promotion than soft drinks;' said Jim Daskal, counsel for the Service Station Dealers of America and Allied T4'ades in Lanham. Since the federal government prohibited cigarette advertising on television and radio in 1970, cigarette advertising and promo- tional spending has grown from S361 million to S6 billion, accord- ing to the Federal Tl-ade Commis- sion. FDA Commissioner David Kessler said at a Georgetown Uni- versity seminar Wednesday that his proposals are intended to "dra- matically change" the public land- scape, where cigarette advertising is ubiquitous. "Listen to the words of one 18- year-old, and I quote: 'I figure if it's really so bad for you, they won't be selling it everywhere. I mean, you walk into the Stop-and-Go and there's a whole wall of them right up front at the cash registet' " The proposed regulation would outright forbid caps and T-shirts and other paraphernalia bearing cigarette logos, ban cigarette sponsorship of sporting events, and prohibit all cigarette advertis- ing on billboards or other outdoor displays within 1,000 feet of a play- ' ground or school. Although the distance may seem short, some industry offi- cials did a quick survey of one big ' city - Detroit - and found that there are few locations that would qualify for a cigarette billboard. Experts who have examined the rulje say that buses and taxis could also be barred from carrying ciga- rette ads on placards because they invariably pass in front of schools during any day. Under the proposed rule, the FDA would allow limited advertis- ing in magazines and newspapers, on posters and store placards, and on other outdoor displays away from schools, provided they in- clude the added language "Ciga- rettes - A Nicotine-Delivery De- vice." The agency's rules for print ad- vertising are twofold. Ads appear- ing in magazines read by teens can be black-and-white text only - no pictures. no color. Ads in teen magazines must also carry a special health statement in addition to the surgeon general's warning, such as':About one out of three kids who become smokers will die from their smoktnK:' Th_ FDA has begun testing these Warr- ings with teen focus groups. Publications that are read by adults are free to continue to ruz traditional ads. But to do so, they must provide the FDA with market data proving that no more than 2 million children read the publica- tion or that at least 85 percent of its readers are adults. "There's just huge confusion" about how to comply with the rule because there's scant information on teen readership, said a major magazine publisher The FDA rule says magazines must count readers, not sub- scribers. "How does the magazine count the teen who has access to Daddy's magazine at home or to a magazine available at any school or public library?" asks Mr. Fith- ian. The upshot: Most major publi- cations that currently carry to- bacco ads, such as Sports Illus- trated or Rolling Stone, will be restricted to the plain vanilla ads. The rule would also limit in- store placards, billboards away from schools and direct mail (even if the mailing list is drawn from the seniors magazine Modern Ma- turity) to the black-and-white text- only format. And the FDA is talking about writing other rules as well. It is reviewing whether to require ads to carry "contraindications" - those lengthy lists of potential side effects and other medical data it now requires for all prescription drug advertising. And it also wants to take over the Federal Trade Commission's jurisdiction over ad claims so in the future it could re- view claims made in ad copy aimed only at adults.