WASHINGTON – Is the Marlboro Man really a kid at heart?
Government lawyers claim the tobacco industry has been using the classic advertising symbol and others like him to appeal to children. Cigarette companies say they’re only trying to attract adult smokers.
The dispute is the focus of a civil racketeering trial now in its third month. The government is seeking $280 billion – a record amount for such a case.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who is presiding over the bench trial, scheduled a two-week break beginning Friday. The trial will resume Jan. 6.
The Justice Department contends the industry engaged in a five-decade conspiracy to deceive the public about the health hazards of cigarettes. To win, the government must show the industry acted improperly in the past and is still acting fraudulently or is likely to do so in the future.
Government lawyers say cigarette companies know that and seek to attract children to their brands by using ads that portray smoking as attractive, sophisticated and rebellious – appealing features for kids – and placing them in magazines popular with young people.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids estimates 22 percent of high school students smoke.
Justice lawyers, who have declined to speak publicly about the case outside court, have produced documents showing the industry has tracked youth smoking over the years.
Industry lawyers say identifying who smokes is not the same as marketing to those age groups. “That is called tracking,” Philip Morris attorney Dan Webb said. “That doesn’t mean that we’re then planning an advertising campaign around it.”
The government has produced several witnesses who testified that tobacco companies market to kids.
University of Georgia marketing expert Dean Krugman testified that Philip Morris USA – the nation’s largest cigarette company – has used cowboys and other Western themes reflecting independence to attract minors.
Webb denied that kids were the target audience.
“Those themes clearly resonate strongly with people of legal smoking age,” Webb said. “The fact that underage people might be drawn to the same type of advertisements that appeal to the legal market is a collateral consequence, but it’s not intentional conduct.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
