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Antismoking ad replaced / Some say billboard promoted tobacco 

Jump to full article: Detroit (MI) Free Press, 1999-08-19
Author: KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN ASSOCIATED PRESSL

Intro:

"We had a handful of people who complained about them," said Geralyn Lasher, spokeswoman for the state Department of Community Health, which sponsored the ads. . . The ad, one of five designed for the antismoking campaign that began in April, featured a youngster with a cigarette jutting jauntily from his lips.

Above him, the billboard reads: "Your little brother thinks everything you do is cool." Below him are the words: "Smoking stinks."

The ad was targeted at 9- to 14-year-olds and played very well with them when tested, Lasher said.

But some callers said the ads appeared to be promoting smoking, not attacking it.

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