| Villanizing Cartoons: Lawsuit settlements are only one aspect of the misguided, trend-setting Anti-Smoking Lobby agenda. They also want to limit advertising, but this has proven equally futile, and again, at great cost. This time, the price includes Freedom of Speech. The November tobacco settlement also includes prohibitions on advertising; specifically, tobacco companies may not use billboards, merchandise or cartoon characters as marketing vehicles. The idea is to protect the eyes and ears of vulnerable children. But within days of news of the settlement, the media was already explaining the futility of the new prohibitions. The Street.com reported, "In an industry already adept at boosting its product, the ad bans are likely to spark a surge in promotional creativity." ABC News went further, "The United States need only look to other countries, which have paved the way in creative loopholes around cigarette advertising restrictions. After Canada’s 1989 ban, the industry sponsored jazz festivals, tennis and golf tournaments, car races, comedy shows, even fireworks displays. In European nations that ban tobacco ads, the companies have gone so far as entering other businesses so they can keep their brand names before the public, selling marbloro and Camel watches and opening "Marlboro Country" travel agencies." According to former cigarette company ad agent Ken Harris, "Unless you make tobacco usage illegal," controlling cigarette advertising "is like grabbing ahold of a puddle of water." |