A judge for the first time Thursday found that a major tobacco company violated the terms of the 1998 national tobacco settlement by running magazine ads aimed at teenagers.
Acting on a lawsuit brought by California’s attorney general, Superior Court Judge Ronald Prager ruled that the R.J. Reynolds Co., maker of Camel and Winston cigarettes, had acted improperly by running cigarette ads in magazines such as Vibe, Spin and Rolling Stone that have large teenage readerships. The judge fined the company $20 million.
“It was, or should have been, apparent to the skillful and bright people who managed RJR’s multimillion-dollar, sophisticated print advertising campaign that youth were exposed to tobacco advertising at levels substantially similar to targeted adult smokers,” Prager said.
He also wrote that R.J. Reynolds was losing market share to Philip Morris and “believed it had to be more aggressive than the other tobacco companies in its advertising so as not to lose any more … even though the likely effect of those efforts was to cause significant exposure to youth.”
The $246 billion settlement between the industry and state governments, which was designed to resolve lawsuits by state Medicaid programs, does not specifically mention magazine advertising. But it bars tobacco companies from taking “any action, directly or indirectly, to target youth.”
R.J. Reynolds said Thursday that it would appeal the judge’s decision, which company officials said violated 1st Amendment rights.
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“It sets a very dangerous precedent to sanction somebody $20 million for simply exercising a constitutional right to talk to adult smokers,” said R.J. Reynolds attorney Jeh Charles Johnson. “No court can tell a company not to advertise in People magazine, Sports Illustrated, or TV Guide.”
In a statement, R.J. Reynolds defended its practices. The company said it advertises cigarettes in magazines with a minimum of 75 percent adult readership–a policy that is more stringent than what the federal government recommends for the alcohol industry. The Federal Trade Commission suggests that alcohol companies place ads in magazines where 60 percent to 70 percent of readers are of legal drinking age.
Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, said the decision should “spur other state attorneys general to aggressively pursue any violations by the tobacco industry of the settlement’s prohibition on `any action, directly or indirectly, to target youth.”‘