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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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NYC Judge Limits Kool Cigarettes Advertising Campaign [06/18-5]
Excerpts from: Judge Limits Tobacco Company Promotion
New York Times [06/18/04]
A Manhattan judge on Thursday issued an order limiting a tobacco company
advertising campaign that state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said had
deliberately targeted children.
State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos barred the distribution of specialty merchandise including interactive CD-ROMs, bags, lighters and radios in connection with the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co.'s Kool MIXX 2004 promotion.
The company also must recall all special edition Kool MIXX cigarette packs in New York. Spitzer said some 79,000 of the thematic cartons had been distributed nationwide, with nearly 25 percent of those sent to retail outlets in New York.
The judge directed B&W to shut down its House of Menthol Web site and toll-free telephone number. That part of the order also prohibits the live webcast in July of a deejay competition sponsored by B&W in Chicago.
Ramos said the deejay competitions planned for this weekend in New York City and the advertising for the events could continue since they will occur at adult-only venues.
Spitzer filed a complaint Tuesday alleging that B&W had violated a nationwide agreement signed by virtually all major tobacco companies by its ``shameless attempt to market Kool cigarettes to children and teens.''
Spitzer's complaint said the company was running its Kool MIXX promotion in magazines including Spin, Vibe, Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, which all have large youth readerships.
Spitzer alleged that the promotion violated the $206 billion master settlement agreement signed in 1998 with 46 states. The agreement prohibits marketing that targets youth, the promotion of brand name merchandise and payments to place tobacco products.
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