WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has agreed to terminate its "Camel Farm" cigarette marketing campaign and pay the state of Maryland $150,000, according to a report in the Business Journal.
The terms, announced Wednesday, were part of a settlement to a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler on behalf of the state. The lawsuit alleged Reynolds' "Camel Farm" marketing campaign's use of cartoons and brand-name merchandise was in violation of a 1998 agreement between the state and tobacco company.
That 1998 agreement prohibits [image-nocss] Reynolds from using cartoons or distributing brand-name merchandise to promote its cigarettes.
"In its Camel Farm campaign, Reynolds turned a blind eye to its obligations under the MSA to never again use cartoons or to give away branded trinkets to promote its deadly products in Maryland," Gansler said in a prepared statement. "These dangerous tobacco industry tactics sabotage efforts by public health professionals, doctors, parents and educators to prevent smoking among youth and young adults."
Maryland is one of nine states that filed actions against Reynolds in December 2007, challenging the marketing tactics used in a campaign that promoted Camel cigarettes to young adults through support of "indie rock" and "independent record label" bands and their music.
David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, noted that courts in several other states, including Ohio, Maine and Illinois, have ruled on similar matters in favor of Reynolds. He also noted that the company voluntarily discontinued this marketing program in December 2007.
"We claimed no wrongdoing as part of this settlement," Howard told the newspaper. "We made a business decision ... that there would be no need to spend time or resources to defend a program that ended two years ago."
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