HMO
...r to sell your deadly product to children. Although free speech is important it is public interest to protect our children. RJ Reynolds argued that they had the right to free speech. They stated that peer-pressure and parents who smoke were the main cause of teen smoking, not a cartoon character. A study in 1991 by the Center for Disease Control showed that six year olds were just as likely to match Joe Camel to a pack of cigarettes, as they were to match Goofy with Disney. Studies like this and others like it eventually led to the demise of Old Joe in 1996. Will doing away with Joe Camel curb teen smoking, I don’t think so, but it is a step in the right direction. I am sure tobacco companies and their advertising executives have seen it coming for a long time. The advertising campaigns will probably just evolve, not go away. In 1997 secret marketing documents were obtained through a landmark lawsuit, that charged RJ Reynolds with targeting youth in their Joe Camel ads. The 2,000-page document was made public by posting it on the Internet. In the documents not only did it state that youth were targeted, but it showed that there were actual studies done on youth and their smoking patterns. If it is illegal to sell cigarettes to minors, how is it that R. J. Reynolds was able to conduct studies on minors? For years now tobacco companies have been able to stay above the law. They have been buying politicians and deceiving the public. How is it that every food product sold in this country must be labeled with ingredients and nutritional information, when cigarette companies don't have to tell the public what is in their product? It wasn’t until recently that ...