Tobacco Ads Violate Cartoon Ban
It isn’t exactly Joe Camel. But a state court has ruled that a cigarette ad featuring a fantasy farm violates a ban on cartoons promoting tobacco.
The ad in question appeared in Rolling Stone magazine in November, 2007. It depicted a surreal scene of a woman driving a floating tractor with a giant rooster perched nearby. Old style audio speakers appeared to grow on plant stalks. The Camel cigarette logo above said “Welcome to The Farm.”
It was part of a campaign to promote underground music. But to Washington state it was a clear violation of an agreement it had with R.J Reynolds not to use cartoons in cigarette ads, part of a larger agreement that came out of national litigation against the tobacco companies.
At issue in this case was whether or not the ad really was a cartoon. A lower court said it wasn’t, that the images didn’t resemble Disney cartoons. But in its ruling against the tobacco company, the Washington Court of Appeals wrote that the ad was in violation because it depicted a fantasy world where natural laws and things such as cancer and serious health problems can cease to exist. “For a product known to cause both, such a world is a potent sales device,” the Court added.
