Camel ads coupled with illustrations promoting rock music violated the tobacco industry's decade-old promise not to use cartoons to sell cigarettes to minors, a Philadelphia judge ruled Wednesday.

 An ad for Camel, placed next to cartoon illustrations in the Rolling Stone magazine in 2007, was considered a violation of the tobacco industry's promise not to use cartoons to sell cigarettes to minors by Judge William J. Manfredi. He said R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. violated its pledge not to pitch cigarettes to children because the Rolling Stone-produced and placed illustrations were cartoons and the cigarette maker should have avoided their placement next to a Camel ad. Judge Manfredi ordered R.J. Reynolds to pay USD 302,000 (EUR 221,281) or run a full-page anti-smoking ad in a Rolling Stone edition that circulates in Pennsylvania.
Attorneys general in nine states had sued over the nine-page advertising section, which combined pages of Camel cigarette ads with pages of magazine-produced illustrations on the theme of independent rock music. Using cartoons in cigarette ads isn't allowed under a 1998 settlement agreement between the tobacco industry and 46 states.
A spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said the ruling is a full victory over R.J. Reynolds. An R.J. Reynolds spokesman said the Winston-Salem, N.C., company will appeal.
R.J. Reynolds' defense has proved more successful in other states. Judges in Maine and Washington ruled in favor of the tobacco company. A California judge found that R.J. Reynolds violated the Master Settlement Agreement, but was not responsible for the ad placement, while an Ohio judge found the opposite, R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard said. Neither judge ordered damages, but the company is appealing both decisions, R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard said. (pi)