R.J. Reynolds developed a "direct advertising appeal to younger smokers" - teens as young as 13 - in the 1970s that resulted in the hip Joe Camel campaign and even a special brand aimed at boys, newly unveiled secret memos show.
The papers, released Wednesday, provide the first detailed look at how the nation's No. 2 cigarette maker spurred youth sales - and they promise to further complicate how Congress deals with the tobacco industry.The White House seized on the documents as "very compelling evidence" that Congress should pass legislation to implement a national tobacco settlement. "If anything . . . the release of these documents makes the White House even more optimistic that Congress will move quickly to address the health-care risks that young people face because of tobacco use and nicotine addiction," presidential spokesman Mike McCurry said.
"Our worst fears about what the tobacco companies might be doing to get kids to smoke were justified," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who released the papers. He is a member of a congressional committee considering the proposed national tobacco settlement that would end most lawsuits against cigarette makers.
"These documents are going to make it hard to convince the American people we ought to be passing a law to forgive the tobacco companies for their past practices, as reprehensible as these documents show they were," he said.
Among the papers:
- A 1987 memo stamped "RJR Secret" that says the company created the Camel Wides brand under the code name Project LF. It was a "wider-circumference nonmenthol cigarette targeted at young adult male smoker (primarily 13-24-year-old male Marlboro smokers)." Camel Wides eventually were sold.
- A 1973 marketing memo says that to help lure "younger smokers" away from Philip Morris' Marlboros, the leading teen brand, "comic strip type copy might get a much higher readership among younger people than any other type of copy." The document defined "younger smokers" as those ages 14 to 24 - and shortly thereafter, RJR created the hip cartoon character Joe Camel, who peddled the Camel brand until last year.
- "Our strategy becomes clear for our established brands," says a 1974 presentation to RJR's board of directors. "Direct advertising appeal to the younger smokers."
- And while RJR has always insisted that teens smoke because of peer pressure, not because of advertising, a 1986 memo says Joe Camel advertising "will be directed toward using peer accep-tance/influence to provide the motivation for target smokers to select Camel."
RJR ended the Joe Camel campaign last year but has always denied that it was targeted to minors. RJR reiterated those denials Wednesday, accusing critics of issuing "cherry-picked documents" taken out of context. The company also insisted it had evidence that the Camel Wides memo contained a typographical error and should read 18- to 24-year-olds, not 13- to 24-year-olds.
"Smoking is a choice for adults, and marketing programs are directed at those above the legal age to smoke," said a company statement.