According to the New York Times, it is — and has been for a while. Reynolds American — which makes Camel, Winston, and Pall Mall cigarettes — says it won’t run cigarette ads in consumer magazines and newspapers during 2008. The announcement comes amidst a dispute between Reynolds and a consumer group called Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which complains that a recent Camel ad in Rolling Stone harkens back to the Joe Camel cartoon character (an image now banned because of its appeal to kids).
The decision represents only one step in Big Tobacco’s ongoing retreat from print advertising. Philip Morris, for example, hasn’t used magazine ads for its cigarettes for three years; and expenditures on print ads have made up a miniscule part of Reynolds advertising budget in recent times, with direct marketing and promotions in stores, bars, and online accounting for most marketing expenses.
That might explain why Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids isn’t exactly doing cartwheels over Reynolds’ announcement. The group says the decision is a cynical attempt to avoid controversy and doesn’t go far enough: Instead, the company should make its decision to forgo print advertising a permanent one and also curtail its other promotional activities.
But in the meantime, maybe Reynolds’ New Year’s resolution to stop hawking its products in magazines will be a boon to readers who’ll make their own 2008 resolutions to stop lighting them up.
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