FTC smokes Joe Camel. (Federal Trade Commission rules R.J. Reynolds use of advertising character violates federal law)

Broadcasting & Cable, June, 1997 by Albiniak, Paige

WASHINGTON--The Federal Trade Commission last week decided 3-2 to give R.J. Reynolds' Joe Camel advertising campaign the thumbsdown, saying the ads violate federal law by targeting an underage audience. The commission wants to ban Joe Camel's image from all places where children under 18 can see it, but the ruling still has to go through an administrative judge in Washington, and RJR has vowed to fight it.

Tobacco advertising does not appear on broadcast media, but the ruling indicates the FTC's willingness to investigate "advertising aimed at audiences that cannot buy the product," says John Kamp, senior vice president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Kamp took the opportunity to sling some arrows at the FCC, when Chairman Reed Hundt...

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