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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Illinois AG to File Suit Against B&W Tobacco for Illegal Cigarette Marketing to Kids [07/21-3]
Excerpts from: Madigan suing tobacco company
Pantagraph.com [07/21/04]
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan will file a lawsuit Wednesday against the maker of Kool cigarettes, claiming that its hip-hop advertising campaign illegally markets cigarettes to kids, a spokeswoman for Madigan said.
The suit seeks several million dollars in damages against Louisville, Ky.-based Brown & Williamson and demands that the company stop its Kool Mixx 2004 campaign in Illinois, said Madigan spokeswoman Melissa Merz.
Madigan signaled legal action in May when she joined a group of state attorneys general in a letter accusing the company's marketing campaign of violating the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between four major tobacco companies and 46 states by directly or indirectly targeting minors. New York and Maryland already have sued the company over the promotion.
Merz said Brown & Williamson has shipped 10,000 cartons of brightly colored packs of cigarettes with small portraits of hip-hop artists.
She declined to specify a monetary figure, although she said it would be "several million dollars more" than the $5.6 million that Maryland is seeking in its lawsuit.
The New York Supreme Court earlier this month ordered Brown & Williamson to drop plans for live audio Webcasts of hip-hop contests along with the recall of special cigarette packs and brand merchandise. The company plans its final rap competition in Chicago this weekend.
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