12/13/2005
Press Release
Eliot Spitzer
New York State Attorney General
Department of Law
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.oag.state.ny.us
R.J. Reynolds Mailing Touts Excessive Alcohol Consumption To Young
Adults
Attorney General Spitzer today called upon R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
to immediately cancel a cigarette promotion that encourages binge
drinking by young adults. The demand was made in a letter to R.J.
Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey, which Spitzer sent jointly with Maryland
Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. and California Attorney General
Bill Lockyer.
"This promotion is a complete abomination," said Attorney
General Spitzer. "Virtually every parent in America knows what it
is like to anxiously wait for a child to come home from a night out with
friends, worrying that someone will be drinking and driving. Now R.J.
Reynolds - apparently not satisfied just selling its own deadly products
- is encouraging individuals to 'celebrate' their birthdays by abusing
alcohol. It is just shameful."
The advertising campaign involves Camel brand cigarettes, which is the
second-most popular cigarette with teens and young adults. R.J. Reynolds
mails an envelope to individuals on their birthday which reads:
"Camel - It's your Birthday. Drinks on us." Inside the
envelope are six different drink coasters, each with a recipe for mixed
drinks with high alcohol content and tag lines that promote excessive
and irresponsible drinking such as, "LAYER IT ON. GO `TIL
DAYBREAK," "MIX THREE SHOTS TOGETHER OVER ICE, THEN MAKE SURE
YOU'RE SITTIN',"and "POUR OVER ICE, THEN LET IT BURN."
R.J. Reynolds says that the mailings are sent to individuals over 21
years old on their birthdays.
"R.J. Reynolds has set a new low even for a tobacco company with
its latest marketing campaign. By linking smoking and alcohol, this
campaign blatantly encourages young people to start abusing alcohol as
well as to smoke," said Matthew Myers, President of the Campaign
for Tobacco Free Kids. "We are appalled that Reynolds is trying to
increase its cigarette sales by promoting alcohol abuse by young adults.
If anyone needed further evidence that R.J.Reynolds has not changed
since the Master Settlement Agreement, this latest marketing campaign
should provide absolute proof."
"Binge drinking is a major public health issue nationwide,
especially on college campuses, which makes this campaign even more
appalling," said J. Edward Hill, President of the American Medical
Association. "Research shows the adverse health impacts of smoking
and alcohol are increased when these two addictive products are used
together."
Attorneys General Spitzer, Lockyer and Curran initially wrote to
Reynolds in November, demanding that the company discontinue the program
because of the grave public health concerns raised by this promotion of
excessive drinking, particularly among young adults. The Attorneys
General's letter also referred to significant scientific research
showing that the combined use of cigarettes and alcohol presents health
risks over and above the risks posed by smoking alone.
The drink coasters specifically mention well-known brands of alcohols,
including Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Kahlua,
Bacardi Limon, and Baileys. The Attorneys General therefore also wrote
to the four major distillers who produce those products, to determine
whether they were participating in the advertising campaign.
All four distillers indicated that they previously were not aware of the
promotion. Moreover, the distillers noted that the promotion would
violate the alcohol industry's advertising code, which specifically
prohibits marketing practices that encourage excessive drinking, promote
the intoxicating effects of alcohol consumption, or urge individuals to
drink as a rite of passage into adulthood. The distillers have all
written to Reynolds, asserting that Reynolds has violated their
trademark rights and demanding that Reynolds "cease and desist"
the promotional campaign, or face potential litigation. Reynolds has
refused those requests.
Spitzer, Lockyer and Curran therefore wrote to Reynolds again today,
expressing their outrage and disappointment with Reynolds' refusal to
discontinue this irresponsible promotion. The letter states that
Reynolds "is promoting unsafe alcohol consumption" and asserts
that Reynolds' "disregard for public health as demonstrated in this
marketing campaign is unconscionable."
According to 2002 study commissioned by the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Task Force on College Drinking, drinking by
college students, ages 18 to 24, contributes to an estimated 1,400
student deaths, 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or
date rape each year.
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