Shades of 'Joe Camel' – RJ Reynolds pays bill

March 29, 2010 Business Comments Off

The offending ad... photo from www.p2pnet.net

One of the offending ads... photo from www.p2pnet.net

Atty. General Richard Blumenthal announced Friday [March 26] that the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) will pay Connecticut $150,000 to settle the state’s lawsuit that claims a 2007 Camel advertising spread in Rolling Stone magazine violates the Master Tobacco Settlement.

RJR denies that the ad campaign violated the agreement, but made the payment to cover the state’s legal costs.

Connecticut is one of several states across the country that sued RJ Reynolds over its “The Farm” campaign publicized in Rolling Stone magazine.

The ad spread, which included a four-page fold out poster, appeared in the 40th anniversary edition of Rolling Stone dated November 15, 2007. (Click here to see the poster that appears when the 50s style “gate” ad, pictured above, is opened)

A press release from Atty. Blumenthal states that the company also agreed to end its “The Farm: Free Range Music” campaign, which the December 2007 lawsuit claims violates the tobacco agreement’s ban on advertising aimed at young children, including cartoon images, which originally stemmed from the company’s now-defunct cartoon character “Joe Camel.”

“This campaign improperly employed cartoons to sell cigarettes, enticing kids into addiction, illness and early death,” Blumenthal states. “Big Tobacco must absolutely adhere to the settlement, especially the vital ban on marketing to children.”

Posted March 29, 2010