Tobacco Documents Online

Office of COPY William Randolph Hearst La Cuesta Encantada . San Simeon, California. Dear Mr. Berkowitz: There is one thing I distinctly do not like in the color advertising, and that is the intrusion of cigarette advertisements into the comics. While the comics are generally read, they are nevertheless peculiarly a favorite with the children, and much read by them. These cigarette ads in the comics seem to be a direct effort to teach the children to smoke cigarettes. If it is bad for us to lend ourselves to that effort, on account of the resentment which will be aroused among families, it is just as unwise for the tobacco advertisers and for the same reasons. Therefore it is consideration for THEIR interests as well as our own which leads me to urge the tobacco people to put their color ads into the grown-ups' American Weekly instead of into the children's Comic Weekly. It is excesses, steps beyond the ednfines of propriety, that bring discretiit on enterprises. It was the obstinacy of the liquor people that brought about Prohibition. Time and again I urged the liquor people not to go to unreasonable extremes. It was the excesses of horse racing that caused the tracks to be shut out of mdny States for nany years. Many a time we vainly tried to reform horse racing. '+

Mr. Mortimer Berkowitz ----- 2. It was lack of judgment, lack of popular psychology, that caused •Lhe uprising against the films. I had written personal editorials warning my friends in the fi lm bus ine ss that this was bound to occur. If the cigarette people go too far, they are going to meet with ezac tly the same si tuation. And when a movement of that kind starts, the time is past when it can be stopped. No mat ter how good the offenders suddenly bec ome, it is too la te. The movement goes to unreasoning lengths, too. But the way to prevent the unreasonableness of these movements is to prevent the movements, and to refrain from Aoing the things which cause these protests. I think somebody ought to tell the tobacco people, in the friendliest way and with honest consideration for their interests, not to try to make cigarette smokers of the children, not to try it openly and obviously, and in a way to arouse the protest of the parents. A stitch in time saves nine stitches in the small of the back. Of course I know that advice very seldom does any good, but at least we wi ll have done our duty to people who have been very decent to us. Sincerely yours, (Signed) W. R. Hearst. COPY ~ 0 .~ w ~ ~ ~ aC N