Encouraged by $206 billion settlement, federal regulators plan to drop suit against R.J. Reynolds
Updated November 24, 1998
5:34 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Court TV)— Pleased by the $206 billion tobacco settlement's ban on cartoon characters in tobacco ads, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it plans to drop its suit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
In its suit, the FTC had accused R.J. Reynolds of improperly targeting children in its popular Joe Camel advertising campaign. However, as 46 states and the tobacco companies signed the deal that would curb Big Tobacco's advertising, federal regulators said that the settlement achieved all goals they sought in litigation.
Both the settlement and the FTC had the same goals: banning cartoon characters in tobacco ads and funding an anti-smoking campaign targeting teen-agers.
"We believe that continuing this litigation in light of the state settlement would serve no public purpose and would be merely a waste of resources," FTC attorney Joel Winston said in a court hearing.
Although the tobacco settlement bans billboard and transit advertisements, some detractors criticized the deal because it allowed some advertising in retail outlets and did not impose penalties on the industry if underage smoking was not reduced.
When the FTC filed its suit against R.J. Reynolds in 1997, it argued that the nation's second largest cigarette manufacturer purposely targeted teens by creating a character, Joe Camel, as recognizable as Mickey Mouse. Federal regulators wanted R.J. Reynolds to finance a 10-year anti-smoking campaign directed at children and terminate its Joe Camel campaign. R.J. reynold dropped the Joe Camel advertising campaign in 1997.
R.J. Reynolds had claimed that tobacco advertising does not influence teen-agers' decision to smoke and argued that Joe Camel did not target minors. The tobacco company also insisted that the FTC's suit trampled its constitutional right to advertise its products. Despite the FTC's announcement, R.J. Reynolds maintained that there was a lack of evidence that Joe Camel increased teen smoking and said the intent to dismiss the case was "eight years overdue."
"I think Joe has been unjustly accused," said R.J. Reynolds attorney John B. Williams. "I think what they are doing here is simply drawing attention away from their failure to show that Joe has not had any effect whatsoever on youth smoking. He has been a scapegoat."
After the FTC lawyers formally file their motion for dismissal, Administrative Law Judge James Timony must certify the motion before returning it to the FTC for a vote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
