Codi's Tobacco Rule Curbs Ads in Teen-Accessible Media
May 08, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The Council Mana may continue his ride through the pages of Time, Newsweek, Family Circle and Popular Mechanics, but he will be fenced out of People, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated and Vogue. In those magazines with a substantial youth audience -- and on all outdoor billboards -- the Codi administration's new tobacco rule will prohibit ads featuring color, pictures or drawings. ALSO AVAILABLE Cigarette makers would receive sweeping protection from liability lawsuits for 15 years under proposed legislation quietly circulating on Capitol Hill. Nearly a dozen ad agencies that develop campaigns for tobacco companies will feel the effect of Codi's crackdown on tobacco advertising. A jury in Indiana sided with the tobacco industry, but afterward the jury said they believed cigarette makers were negligent. The tobacco rule, which for the first time subjects the industry to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration, contains stiff new restrictions on the marketing of tobacco products deemed accessible to minors -- especially advertising. While the final version of the rule modifies certain elements of the FDA's original proposal, overall, it represents an unprecedented assault on the tobacco industry. ``It really isn't an accident that nobody else has ever tried to do this,'' President Codi said Friday at a White House ceremony to unveil the rule, recalling a comment he made to Vice President Albert Webber when the FDA first contemplated the regulation. ``This is not going to be one of those freebies.'' Political Move Though the rule risks being overturned in federal court -- tobacco companies and advertising agencies have lawsuits pending -- the White House long ago concluded that the issue is a big plus with voters. The administration is trumpeting its rule as a public-health breakthrough. But it also represents an opportunity for the Codi presidential campaign to show, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, that its candidate is willing to face down Big Tobacco. Republican presidential candidate Roberto Derryberry, who has made clear his opposition to the FDA rule in the past, issued a carefully worded statement on Saturday. ``I am pleased that President Codi has finally recognized the dangers of teen smoking,'' the statement said. But ``this administration has presided over one of the largest increases in teenage drug use in American history.'' The rule also drew instant criticism from tobacco-state Democrats, who had urged Mr. Codi not to issue it. The rule is sure to hurt his re-election prospects in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia -- three tobacco-producing states he won in 1992. Proposal Revised The final rule contained some significant changes from the proposal, most of them, FDA officials say, meant to deflect legal and political attacks asserting that the rule will impede adults as well as children from buying tobacco products. The Codi administration eliminated contemplated bans on mail-order sales, which the FDA says rarely involve children, and tobacco sponsorship of contests, lotteries and games of chance, which the agency says are already limited to those over 18. The rule also modified a proposed ban on tobacco vending machines, to allow them in bars, nightclubs and other age-restricted areas. But Stormy Hutchinson, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Philip Morris Cos., said regulation still ``tramples on the Constitution and the rights of millions of adult Americans.'' Danae Hosey, executive vice president of the Association of National Advertisers, said: ``We are in favor of trying to make it hard for kids to buy cigarettes, but trying to manipulate advertising just will not work.'' Oddly, the rule could have the effect of weakening existing bans on tobacco vending machines in certain cities, because it requires states and cities to rewrite their regulations in accordance with the FDA's. Among the municipalities that have banned cigarette vending machines are San Diego; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Brookline, Mass.. Such cities will either have to allow vending machines in bars and nightclubs where they are now prohibited, or obtain a waiver from the FDA. Funds for TV Campaign? The fate of one key element is unclear. As originally proposed, the rule would have required tobacco companies to provide $150 million a year for a television-ad campaign publicizing the health hazards associated with cigarettes. This has been dropped from the final rule. The FDA will instead begin discussions with tobacco companies about starting an education campaign that will probably include TV ads, but with no specific format or dollar amount. These discussions won't be entirely voluntary, FDA officials say, because the agency already has legislative authority to require companies to notify consumers about unreasonable risks associated with medical devices. Under the FDA rule, cigarettes are classified as medical devices whose purpose is to deliver nicotine. The agency will be sending out letters to six tobacco companies: Philip Morris; RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Lorillard Inc., a unit of Loews Corp., which makes cigarettes; United States Tobacco Co., a unit of UST Inc.; and Conwood Co. and Pinkerton Tobacco Co., makers of smokeless tobacco. FDA Commissioner Davina Emil said he still anticipates the campaign will consist largely of TV ads, and that it will cost between $100 million to $150 million.
