Tobacco Documents Online

I I I RFK Challeng~s Tobacco Advertising gwla T. Tn. Tlm.. Pnm 7n. w..Mnalen Petl WASHING'1'ON - For the past tour months, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, LLN.Y., has been clullenging various lnterests - broadcasting nemorks, to- bac_cro companies, airlines -- tndo more t deter uttu h~:m cigarette;; liis office this week made pu Ilc a sheaf of telegrams and letters which disdose: M A sharp disagreement between Kennedy and Julian Goodman, president of L'ta National Broadcastirg Co., over NBC's respon.s.ibilities in this area. o0 A promise front National Collcgiate AWr uc Association Fresident Marcus L. Plant to "use everyinfluence possii.le to reduce and ultfmatdy elim- tnate" -cigarctte adlis from NCAA broadc;st proo anu.. w A statement by. Kennedy that It is not "at all inconcci- vablz" that prmted media miiMt somed;y be fo.biddea to_ carry cigarette advertising. The corres_ponde_nce began last August with letters in which Kennedy asked ciga- rette makers, networks and others w h a t new - self- regulatory steps they were taking to discourage smoking 1n your.g people, who take up the habit at the rate of more than 4,000 a day. I L NN L D Y occasionally smokes a cigar. An aide said he has never smoked ciga- rettes. The ser.ator-was said i N«`y _A~KUPAN.2 to feel strongly about the mat- ter because it ls a major pub- llc health Iproblem. He teeb clg,uette advertising "confus- es" youths, the aide said. "He cares about kids generally . he wants them - and adults - to know the facts. Ne Is not a prohibitionist." The Kennedy-NBC dispute came to a head after the sen- ator suggeate_d last month that cigarette ads not be car- ried onYoothall telecasts. Such ads are acceptable-under the industry's cigarette advertis- Ing code because less than 45 per cent of the viewing audi- ence is estimated to be under 21. The NCAA'a I,larcus Plant told Kennedy, "I agree . . , it is not desirable to have cigar- ette adwrG,en,cnts . . on association -programs." Pres- ent contracts ritn through the 1969 football season, however. No comrnent was received from the American and Na- tional Football Leagues. NBC'S GOOn1tA.Y said he had to "respectfully disagree" with Kennedy's "approach and proposal"as to cigarette ads on football telecasts. On Nov. 17 he wired the senator: "Since young people are In- cluded ln the audiences for magannes, newspapers, bill- boards and-mostradio and television programs, the sense AP Wlrepr.IP Kennedy: 'He Is Not A Prohibitionist' of your suggestion is tanta- mount to a proposal that all c i g a r e t t e advertising be barred, a suggestion urged on the Congress and rejected by it. "The cigarette advertising carried on NBC facilities does not make special appeals to young people and we do not believe it would be appropri- ate to excl ude lt ..:" On Nov. 28, Kennedy replied to Goodman's telegram and to letters from Leonard H. Gold- enson, president of ABC, and Frank Stanton, presideat of CBS. PRF,SSL\Q FOR greater selfaegulation, the senator told the executives, "1Se all have a responsibility to act on 4ViWosooT I our own regarding this aert- ous health hazard." But K e n n e d y criticized Goodman alone for his tell- ance on the failure of Con- gress to regulate cigarette ad- vertising. He called this_ an "inappropriate" reason for "refraining from further self- regttlatlon." A failure to act on Capitol Hill, Kennedy said, "does not diminish the responsibilities of other Americans for volun- tary action in the public inter- est-" Kennedy's letters to ABC and CBS took ok up questions by Gojdenson and Stanton as to "the possible unfairness of singling out the broadcast media" In urging more self. regulation. KENNEDYacknqwledged he saw "no particular distfna tion among the media insofar as the desired elfect of the ad- vertising is concerned - all of It is for the purpose of urging people to smoke more."But, he said, "It is true that television is particularly for- mative of youth attitudes. And_ a recent poll showed that of all television advertise- ments, the one most appeal- ing to teen-agen was a c[ga- rette ad which was a part of a campaign for a new brand."He continued: "The broadcast media are nnique, too, in that they al- ready refrain from advertlu- tng liquor and fireatm, a step which newspapers and magazines have not taken. And there are trratlonal distinctions regarding the gov- ernment's regulatory pow- "The air waves belong to the public, bllc, and the FCC (Fed- eral Communications Com- mission) was established for the purpose of regulating their use in the public inter est. "WE IIAVE engaged In no comparable regulation of the printed media_. Still, there are some kinds of advertising which the printed media, for various reasons, do not carry, so I would not regard it as all inconceivable that such a step might be taken concerning cigarettes." - Kennedy also wrote to air- lines in August to urge that they stop distributing free "courtesy" packets of ciga- rettes - an estimated_ 14 million are given away each year. F. C. Wiser, presldent of Northeast, called the sugges- tlon "excellent" and ended the practica American, Pan American and Trans World Airlines agreed to make the packets available only on spe- cific request. The proposal was taken under advisement by Braniff and ConnnentaL rn n m ro M a n 04 m ~o a V t