Joe Camel Ads Look Bad for Tobacco Giant

8 states sue over Rolling Stone insert; RJ Reynolds faces $100M in fines
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 4, 2007 5:45 PM CST
Joe Camel Ads Look Bad for Tobacco Giant
Packages of Camel No. 9 cigarettes in sleek packaging are shown at a store in Charlotte, N.C., in this Feb. 8, 2007 file photo. The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which has been under intense pressure from anti-smoking groups and members of Congress over print ads for its cigarettes, said Tuesday, Nov....   (Associated Press)

Eight states are suing RJ Reynolds, alleging that an ad for Camel cigarettes in Rolling Stone last month violates a 1998 agreement not to use cartoons in advertising cigarettes. The states seek $100 for every magazine distributed and for every hit on the tobacco giant's associated website, the AP reports. Potential fines could total more than $100 million.

The nine-page spread combines Camel ads with drawings Rolling Stone produced; the magazine’s publisher says RJ Reynolds didn’t know the pages would be illustrated. But Pennsylvania’s attorney general said the publication “flies in the face of their pledge to halt all tobacco marketing to children.” (More Camel stories.)

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