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• 'Rolling Stone' Fights Claim It Misappropriated Indie Bands' Names to Promote Cigarettes 

Fending off accusations it misappropriated the names of more than 185 indie rockers to promote cigarettes, Rolling Stone magazine on Thursday appeared to have one appellate justice solidly in its corner.

However, two votes are needed to win and one justice was absent during oral arguments in San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal. The third didn't tip his hand.

Rolling Stone was sued last year by a class of indie bands -- led by the San Francisco Bay Area's Xiu Xiu and Toronto's Fucked Up -- who claimed the magazine had traded on their names by using them in a November 2007 graphic/article juxtaposed with a four-page, fold-out advertisement by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. that touted Camel cigarettes and the manufacturer's collaborations with indie groups. . . .

Nonetheless, the bands claim Rolling Stone intentionally used their names to help R.J. Reynolds sell Camels and that the ad implied the bands endorsed the product.

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• Editorial - Lebanon has yet to tackle killer smoke 

Even though many other countries have already passed Lebanon by on the issue, and even though a conference blooming with well-meaning rhetoric is no guarantee of future action, it certainly was praiseworthy for the Health Ministry and its National Tobacco Control Program to agitate last week for a comprehensive ban on smoking in public places.

Before even addressing the stale arguments over whether a ban would encroach on personal freedom, a prohibition makes sense purely to keep more humans alive and cut health-care expenses from this country's already catastrophic budget . . .

In case any doubt remains over the meaning of universal protection, we only have to note the smoking bans lately adopted in Bahrain, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE. Put another way, Lebanon has now fallen behind all those countries on a major human-rights issue - yes, Lebanon has fallen behind Syria in liberating its citizens to be free of murderous second-hand smoke in public places.

But we here in our glass house at The Daily Star should not be the first to cast stones. To illustrate the hurdles a welcome and overdue ban would face, we at the newspaper enjoy a smoke-free work environment - until 9 p.m. Even this would-be watchdog of the public interest seems to respect human rights only some of the time.

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• DICKINSON: Echoes of Philip Morris and Hillarycare 

I touched on the Philip Morris campaign, briefly, in "The Lie Machine," but I've since uncovered a bumper crop of additional memos from the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library that offer a detailed picture of the cigarette maker's behind-the-scenes moves to defeat the Clinton health care reform in '94 -- and why the tobacco company was so motivated.

The costs of the Clinton health reform were to be covered, in part, by new tobacco taxes. As this memo from the company's Washington Relations Office reveals, Philip Morris' decided it would try beat back this threat by torpedoing health care reform altogether: . . .

• Third Party support is important. We provide assistance to Citizens for a Sound Economy, Center for Policy Analysis, Manhattan Institute and numerous other organizations. . . .

Citizens for a Sound Economy's effort bore a striking resemblance to the town-hall campaign waged this August by its offspring. This "Tobacco Strategy" memo describes CSE's program in full swing, replete with a mobilization of up-in-arms constituents at town halls . . .

Philip Morris tapped its own employees to play the part of concerned citizens . . .

Who were those allies? This March 22, 1994, "Tobacco Strategy Review" marked "confidential" lists Philip Morris' friends in the foxhole, including, notably, the Manhattan Institute, where one Betsy McCaughey was a fellow: . . .

To influence swing Democrats in the House, PM quietly paid CSE to gin up a "grassroots" anti-tax rebellion, as detailed in this memo . . .

• PM COMPANIES INC. AND RJR HAVE FORMED THE PM/RJR TOBACCO TASK FORCE TO COORDINATE ACTIONS ON… FET.

This “Task Force” was star-studded. Indeed, it was anchored by a former top George H.W. Bush consultant who would go on to found FoxNews:

• TASK FORCE MEMBERS INCLUDE:

…

Roger Ailes, public affairs strategist

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• Betsy McCaughey Responds to the Baseless Charges From Rolling Stone Magazine 

The October 1, 2009 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine includes the outrageous and fictional accusation that I worked for a tobacco company in writing my critique of the dangers of the Clinton Plan. I did not. I was a scholar at the Manhattan Institute, and did no fundraising or conferring with corporations. Absolutely none. My article was based on text of the Health Security Act, period. Because of the accuracy and insights in the article, it was awarded a National Magazine Award for the best article in the nation on public policy and the H.L. Mencken Award.

It is shocking that fifteen years later, Rolling Stone still accepts tobacco advertising. See page 93 of the current issue. Shame on hypocritical Rolling Stone Magazine.

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• A Different Camel Is Back in the Glossies 

Now the Camel logo is back prominently in major glossies, including Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated and Maxim -- but not to advertise cigarettes. R. J. Reynolds is advertising Camel Snus, a tobacco packet that wedges in the upper lip and, unlike chewing tobacco, is promoted as "spitless" because low salt content spares users the unpleasantness of public expectoration. Although snus is popular in Sweden, this is the first time it has been marketed in the United States by a major American tobacco company.

The campaign, by Quaker City Mercantile in Philadelphia, pitches Camel Snus (pronounced snoose) as a way around smoking bans. The ads cater to specific magazine audiences, with a recent issue of Rolling Stone promoting snus as "sweaty outdoor festival friendly" and one in Sports Illustrated declaring it "extra inning friendly." Others call snus "your flight just got canceled friendly," "ridiculously long conference call friendly" and "fancy hotel friendly."

David Howard, an R. J. Reynolds spokesman, said that the company had not reversed its magazine policy, but that this was a Camel of another color.

"We do not advertise cigarettes in print right now and have not done that for a couple years, but Camel Snus is not a cigarette," Mr. Howard said. "This is a different product, and if ultimately you want your adult tobacco consumers to be aware of the product and its attributes, clearly you have to advertise." . . .

But the way Camel Snus is marketed might be "harm increasing if people delay quitting because of them," Dr. Henningfield said.

Smoking prohibitions prompt more smokers to quit, so industry watchdogs are leery of a campaign that flaunts circumventing bans.

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We do not advertise cigarettes in print right now and have not done that for a couple years, but Camel Snus is not a cigarette. This is a different product, and if ultimately you want your adult tobacco consumers to be aware of the product and its attributes, clearly you have to advertise.
David Howard, an R. J. Reynolds spokesman.

Camel clearly is not marketing snus as a replacement product -- it's a complementary product. [With dual use] you have two forms of nicotine addiction, and if that's the future, then we have a real problem, because that's going to be very difficult to treat.
Gregory N. Connolly, a professor and tobacco researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, on "dual users."

• Scribe Jailed 10 Months 

The Arua-based Red Pepper reporter was on Thursday sentenced to a 10-month imprisonment for receiving a bribe.

Ronald Afeku pleaded guilty of taking sh1m from the British American Tobacco Uganda (BATU) manager for not running a story against the company last Thursday.

"You have acted against the ethics of journalism, a noble profession that informs, educates the masses. "You are sentenced to ten months imprisonment," the Arua Grade II magistrate, Marchelo Alioniin, read the judgement before a fully packed courtroom with the convict's relatives and journalists.

Alioniin urged journalists to clear their image from criminal acts if they wanted to get public confidence. . . .

On August 6, Afeku was arrested by plain clothed policemen from BATU offices after receiving a bribe to kill a story on a motor accident involving the tobacco firm, which claimed over 10 people and left many others injured.

The court heard that Afeku had asked for sh2m and the balance would be paid later after handing over the story to the manager

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• Watchdog slams Viz over saucy smoking advert 

STANDARDS watchdogs have banned a saucy advert which appeared in adult magazine Viz over claims it glamorises smoking.

A page in the Newcastle-born adult comic showed a scantily-clad woman with cigarette rolling papers appearing to float out of her handbag.

The model was pictured in silver high-heels, skimpy shorts, and sitting with her legs crossed next to the slogan: "OCB X-PERT: Europe's Premium Cigarette Paper."

But the risque image prompted a complaint against the cigarette papers company to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), which agreed it was irresponsible and associated glamour with smoking tobacco.

OCB Papers Ltd, which produces the cigarette papers, has been told the advert must not appear in the magazine - or anywhere else - again.

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• EMERSON: Limbaugh, others short on smoking ban facts  

When I heard that an Eau Claire homeowners association had voted to outlaw smoking in the owner-occupied residential complex, I knew right away the topic had the potential to ignite local controversy. . .. Initially I wondered how so many people from California to Massachusetts and points in between had read my story. I discovered there was a good explanation.

The story made its way to The Associated Press, then to the Drudge Report, a conservative online news site, where it reached a nationwide audience. From there the story took on an even larger life as conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh discussed it. . . .

I didn't hear the segment in which he addressed the matter but found a transcript online where he likened the smoking ban to "a communist idea" from somewhere other than Washington, D.C. Limbaugh and people calling his show apparently bashed the ban and the man who proposed it, Dave Hanvelt, the Fairfax Park Homeowners Association president. . . .

Here's a little secret most of those criticizing Hanvelt's political leanings apparently don't know: He's a conservative. In fact, he's a staunch conservative. . . .

"We accept these restrictions when we choose to live here," Hanvelt said, noting the smoking ban is about public health, not politics.

That makes sense to me, or certainly more sense than the rantings of people demonizing the Fairfax Park ban as the end of freedom for all. When compared to logic, those arguments go up in smoke.

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• RT-D keeps you informed on tobacco issues  

Big changes are coming to the tobacco industry, and we've ramped up our coverage in the Richmond Times-Dispatch to keep you informed.

Tobacco has long been a focus of our coverage -- the business has been a key component of Virginia's economy since soon after its founding at Jamestown. Now more than ever, Richmond is at the heart of the industry.

We are home to the nation's No. 1 cigarette-maker, Philip Morris USA, and its parent company, Altria Group Inc. Philip Morris operates one of the largest cigarette plants in the world in South Richmond. Altogether, Altria employs more than 5,000 in the Richmond area.

Myriad other tobacco-related businesses big and small populate the region, from venerable tobacco broker Universal Corp. to more recent arrival Swedish Match North America.

The health consequences of smoking continue to be widely debated, with long-sought legislation to ban smoking in restaurants finally making it through the General Assembly this year.

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• Camel violated ban on using cartoons to sell cigarettes, judge rules 

The four-page Camel cigarette ad in Rolling Stone magazine two years ago was a surrealistic journey to a place called "Camel Farm," where a woman with a retro hairdo sprouted from a green field; where a gramophone, a disembodied hand and a trippy tractor drifted through the air.

It was meant to connect Camels with alternative music, and the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company argued it was far from Joe Camel, the Disneyesque spokescharacter of yesteryear that got it in so much trouble.

But a state Appeals Court ruled Monday that the company nonetheless violated a ban on using cartoons to sell smokes. Now a King County Superior Court judge may have to decide what sanctions the company will face for its ad.

"The Camel Farm imagery depends entirely upon the suspension of the laws of nature," Appeals Court Judge Anne Ellington wrote in the ruling. . . .

However, the court also ruled against the state's contention that a Rolling Stone feature that ran alongside the ad, and also included cartoons, was not R.J. Reynolds' fault.

Assistant Attorney General Rene Tomisser said he was gratified by the ruling because it affirms the state's contention that "it doesn't have to be a cartoon directed at kids ... Any cartoon fits the bill," he said.

Still, it's unclear what, if any, penalty Downing could impose on R.J. Reynolds now.

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Under a blue sky in a pastoral Eden, roosters hitch rides on floating tractors, speakers grow out of the ground and radios fly. This is in a world where the natural laws do not obtain, where cancer and serious health problems can cease to exist. For a product known to cause both, such a world is a potent sales device.
Appeals Court Judge Anne Ellington, on RJR's "Camel Farm" ad in Rolling Stone.

• State Of Washington, App. V. R.j. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Res.  

The chief question here is whether a Reynolds advertisement in the November 15, 2007 edition of Rolling Stone violated this prohibition. A secondary question is whether Reynolds had a duty to ensure the adjacent content within the magazine did not violate the cartoon prohibition.

The trial court ruled the Reynolds advertisement did not violate the cartoon ban and that Reynolds did not cause Rolling Stone's use of cartoons in the editorial content enfolded by the advertisement. The court also ruled that because the Rolling Stone cartoon material was unforeseeable, Reynolds had no duty to prohibit its use.

The State appeals. We affirm the ruling that Reynolds is not liable for the Rolling Stone content. But we hold that Reynolds' advertisement violated the settlement agreement. We therefore reverse.

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• Wash. court: Cartoon cigarette ads broke agreement 

For the second time in two months, a court said Monday that an advertisement RJ Reynolds placed in Rolling Stone magazine broke the tobacco industry's 1998 settlement with the states by using cartoons, and the company will have to pay damages.

The Washington state Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's finding that content Reynolds produced for the 2007 Rolling Stone advertisement did not include cartoons.

Though the photographic images weren't Disney-style illustrations, the appeals court said they were cartoonishly arranged in a bucolic collage. The theme of the "Camel Farm" ad campaign was that Reynolds was helping to support - grow - independent music.

At least eight states - Maine, Ohio, California, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington - sued the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company after the fold-out advertisement appeared in one of Rolling Stone's special 40th anniversary issues. . . .

The Maine and Ohio judges sided with the company and California came back with a split decision. In May, a Pennsylvania judge became the first to hold Reynolds liable, ordering the company to pay $302,000 or run a full-page anti-smoking ad in Rolling Stone. Reynolds vowed to appeal.

Washington's court said Monday that Reynolds couldn't be held liable for content produced by Rolling Stone without the company's knowledge, but that the company's own content fell within the settlement's cartoon prohibition, aimed at restricting the tobacco industry's ability to market to young people.

The decision overturned a ruling by King County Superior Court Judge William Downing

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• Ad Industry Fights Tobacco Bill 

Tobacco advertising has been declining since the 1970s, when TV and radio commercials for cigarettes were banned. The industry cut back heavily on magazine ads in 2000, under pressure after placing ads in magazines with many young readers.

Last year, tobacco companies spent $78.4 million on ads in the U.S., with $69.3 million of that in magazines, mostly male-oriented publications including Maxim, Playboy, Men's Journal and Field & Stream, according TNS Media Intelligence, an ad-tracking firm owned by WPP.

Any further loss of revenue, even the relatively small amount flowing from tobacco, would hit at a particularly hard time for the magazine industry, which saw ad spending drop 21% in the first quarter of 2009 from a year earlier, according to TNS.

The ad industry opposes the legislation, arguing that it violates free speech. . . .

Magazines that have "a significant readership of people" under the age of 18 wouldn't be allowed to run a tobacco ad unless it was black-and-white text only, a "tombstone" in ad-industry parlance. Tombstone ads would command a far lower rate than the colorful print ads that tobacco companies have relied on for decades.

Advertisers argue that their industry can regulate itself and that the legislation could set a dicey precedent for products such as alcohol and fast food. Last week's legislation would be "the most restrictive advertising bill ever passed in the U.S. for a legal product," says Dan Jaffe, executive vice president for government relations at the ANA.

A spokeswoman for Reynolds, a unit of Reynolds American, said she can't give details on its advertising plans for competitive reasons but that the tobacco company "will be in compliance with the law."

A spokesman for tobacco maker Lorillard said it is "premature to speculate on what the future will hold." Lorillard plans to spend about $12 million on magazine ads for all of 2008 and 2009.

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• Tobacco-Free Coverage for Australian Honoree  

Should someone who worked for one the world's biggest tobacco companies be celebrated as a national role model?

Ms Quentin Bryce, the Australian Governor-General who acts as the representative of the Queen of England, apparently thinks so. To coincide with the Queen's Birthday long weekend in early June, Bryce announced that Carla Zampatti had been made a Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia for "service through leadership and management roles in the fashion and retail property sectors, to multicultural broadcasting, and to women as a role model and mentor." Two others were also made companions, the most prestigious honorary titles bestowed on individuals.The awards, announced twice a year, are extensively publicised in the mainstream media.

Zampatti is best known as an Italian immigrant who created a name for herself as a fashion designer, building a successful boutique retail chain on her clothing designs. It's an appealing "underdog makes good" story.

But the information used to support Zampatti's honor clearly indicated that she had been a director of British American Tobacco Australasia (BATA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco, for nearly three years. On its website, BATA boasts that it manufactures a total of over 18 billion cigarettes a year in plants in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Western Samoa for domestic consumption and for export to other countries in the Pacific region.

So did Zampatti's service for one of the world's most notorious tobacco companies count at all against her? And why did none of the media reports on her award even mention that she had been a director of a tobacco company?

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• HANSEN: A personal experience with bias 

According to a recent Zogby poll, Americans believe media bias is alive and well. Almost 2 out of 3, or 64 percent, say the media lean left. . . .

This perception is really nothing new. My father, Dr. Louis S. Hansen, was vice chairman of the Division of Forensic Pathology, School of Medicine, at the University of California, San Francisco. He was considered a world authority on diseases of the mouth, especially oral cancer. This background often led to him being called as an expert witness in civil litigation.

One of his most famous trials took place in 1986 in Oklahoma City. The case involved a 19-year-old youth named Sean Marsee, who had died from cancer of the tongue. His mother sued the U.S. Tobacco Company, claiming her son's death was a result of using snuff.

My father testified for the tobacco company . . .

The story was followed nationally and picked up by several newspapers. It also found a place on "60 Minutes" and in Readers Digest.

Whether the public got the full story or not depended upon what media outlet was used. The most accurate and complete accounts were found in Southern newspapers. For example, the Dallas Morning News, via an Associated Press story by Judy Gibbs, reported the trial evidence, including testimony by University of Texas professor Dr. John Helfrick, who agreed with Hansen's conclusions. . . .

Were the facts in the Washington Post story accurate? Yes. Did the writer leave out important information as to how the jury reached its conclusion? Yes. Did the story lead the reader to believe the jury may have had erred in its decision -- or that justice had not been served? You be the judge.

Perhaps Mark Twain was correct when he said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed."

On the other hand, a Washington Post story, also picked up by The Sacramento Bee, on June 21, 1986, failed to mention any of the specific facts presented at trial by the two professors. Instead, comments were made such as " ... the tobacco industry has never lost or settled a product-liability lawsuit," and "Two of the four women jurors cried ... "

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