Tobacco Industry: ‘Light’ Cigarette Label Ban

Sen. Wants ‘Light’ Cigarette Label Ban

09.07.2006
By DONNA DE LA CRUZ

Lawmakers must move quickly to keep tobacco companies from continuing to label cigarettes as “low tar” and “light” following a landmark federal court ruling that said several major tobacco companies have conspired to mislead the public about the health hazards of smoking, an anti-tobacco senator said Thursday.

New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg called on his Senate colleagues to back the court ruling that banned the use of cigarette labels such as “low tar” and “light.” U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler here said those labels are misleading. Tobacco companies are appealing.

“A court of law found that Big Tobacco lied to the American people, and ordered them to stop its deceptive marketing,” Lautenberg said. “Now Big Tobacco’s lawyers are trying to drag the case out in court. That is why we need to move quickly on this stop gap measure now.”

Lautenberg introduced the ‘Truth in Cigarette Labeling’ act Thursday that would ban the use of the labels. The bill has no GOP co-sponsors. Other Democratic co-sponsors included Hillary Clinton of New York, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

Lautenberg cited an internal memo written in 1975 by Philip Morris that he says shows the company was misleading the public. The memo, which was provided to The Associated Press, said a study conducted by the company showed that people smoking Marlboro Lights actually inhaled more nicotine than if they had been smoking regular Marlboros.

The company did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

In regard to Kessler’s ruling, tobacco companies have said they will lose customers to smaller cigarette manufacturers who weren’t part of the civil suit filed by the Justice Department. The defendants are: Philip Morris USA Inc. and its parent, Altria Group Inc.; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.; British American Tobacco Ltd.; Lorillard Tobacco Co.; Liggett Group Inc.; Counsel for Tobacco Research-U.S.A.; and the now-defunct Tobacco Institute.

The only cigarette maker excluded from Kessler’s ruling was Liggett. Kessler credited Liggett with coming forward in the 1990s to admit smoking causes disease and is addictive, among other things.

Lautenberg is one of the Senate’s biggest tobacco opponents. In July, he introduced a bill to ban the sale of all tobacco products at sundry shops in the Senate complex. He also wrote the law banning smoking on commercial airlines.

RJR holds off on its Internet marketing
Web site remains down after judge’s ruling

September 9, 2006
By Richard Craver, JOURNAL REPORTER

The day after a U.S. District Court judge issued a landmark ruling saying that major cigarette-makers violated racketeering laws, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. took its Web site down.

Three weeks later, it’s still down.

The Web site – http://www.rjrt.com/ – remains shelved and “under review” as Reynolds considers its marketing response to the Aug. 17 ruling by Judge Gladys Kessler, spokesman David Howard said yesterday.

Kessler said that the companies conspired for years to mislead the public about the health hazards of smoking.

Lorillard Tobacco Co. also has taken down its Web site – http://www.lorillard.com/.

The Web sites for Reynolds American Inc., the parent company of Reynolds Tobacco, and its Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. Inc. subsidiary remain online. Santa Fe was not specifically named in the lawsuit brought by the Justice Department.

Part of Kessler’s ruling requires that the cigarette-makers stop labeling cigarettes as “low tar,” “light,” “ultra light” or “mild,” beginning Jan. 1, because such cigarettes have been found to be no safer than others because of the way people smoke them.

“We are giving a thorough review of the Web site’s content related to the judge’s ruling,” Howard said.

“We don’t want there to be anything even remotely considered as misleading or problematic on the Web site.”

Howard said that Reynolds has not set a timetable for activating the Web site.

The Web sites for Philip Morris USA and British American Tobacco Ltd. remain online.

The stakes of the judge’s ruling are high for the tobacco companies.

The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 21 that cigarettes with tar ratings of 15 milligrams or less – those generally marketed as “light” or “low-tar” -comprise nearly 85 percent of the nearly 368 billion cigarettes sold in 2003.

That’s up from 61 percent in 1991, according to a Federal Trade Commission report for 2003, the most recent available.

“I don’t think Reynolds and Lorillard had any choice other than to withdraw their Internet marketing presence until they can figure out the boundaries in which they can operate with this ruling,” said Mike Horn, a partner at Horn & Stronach, a marketing and public-relations company in Winston-Salem.

“There are implications to being off-line with tech-savvy consumers, especially considering the Internet is for many companies their most proactive marketing tool,” Horn said.

Howard said that Reynolds has not heard an answer to the tobacco companies’ request, filed Aug. 31, for a stay of Kessler’s order. The companies want to continue to market “light” and “low tar” cigarettes during a probable – and lengthy – appeal process.

The companies said they want a clarification of Kessler’s ruling before they begin to repackage and remarket some of their brands.

They said that those efforts would cost up to hundreds of millions of dollars. They are pursuing a clarification on the international marketing implications.

The companies also asked Kessler to suspend her order that forces them to publish “corrective statements” about nicotine addiction and the health effects of smoking.

The National Association of Convenience Stores is monitoring the case closely, said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the trade group.

Cigarettes comprised 34 percent of the indoor sales of convenience stores in 2005, and 63 percent of U.S. cigarette sales were done in convenience stores, Lenard said.

“Cigarette customers, therefore, are very important to convenience stores,” he said. “They also are very much consumers of habit and can be fickle.

“We tell the stores to tell their clerks to be prepared to explain the changes to customers,” Lenard said.

“They’re the most likely people to get hit with, ‘Where’s my favorite brand?’ if the box or carton is changed.”

• Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com.