[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 2, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H11130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CAMEL NO. 9 CIGARETTES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise to discuss an important public 
health issue, particularly for young women and girls.
  As a mother, grandmother and a former school nurse, I know all about 
the annual back-to-school shopping ritual. Each fall, kids and parents 
hit the stores to stock up on school supplies and new clothes. 
Unfortunately, this fall there's a new must-have item being advertised, 
and believe it or not, it's Camel No. 9 cigarettes.
  It's being brought to our daughters, granddaughters and nieces by the 
folks at R.J. Reynolds, the same company that thought cartoon character 
Joe Camel was a responsible product spokesman.
  Camel No. 9 cigarettes are just the pink version of Joe Camel, or as 
one Oregon newspaper put it, ``Barbie Camel.'' And R.J. Reynolds' 
tobacco marketing strategy is complete with fashionable giveaways to 
young women that include berry lip balm and mini hot pink purses.
  The tag line for Camel No. 9 is ``light and luscious,'' which sounds 
more like a tasty treat than a cancer-causing cigarette. Now there's 
even a Camel No. 9 stiletto line which evokes images of the sexy shoes.
  Well, I'd like to remind R.J. Reynolds that there's nothing sexy 
about emphysema or dying prematurely from cancer. No amount of pretty 
pink packaging can obscure the fact that lung cancer is the number one 
cancer killer among American women, a truth that underscores big 
tobacco's desperate search for new smokers.
  While we expect this kind of sleazy marketing from tobacco companies, 
I've been terribly disappointed that they've found a new and unexpected 
ally in women's fashion magazines. These magazines set the styles and 
trends for the country. They have historically served as legitimate 
sources for information on women's health and fitness, and they've sold 
out the well-being of their readers to help big tobacco in their search 
for new victims.
  So back in June, 40 of my colleagues joined me in writing to the 
publishers of 11 leading women's magazines. We asked them to 
voluntarily stop accepting misleading advertising for deadly 
cigarettes, particularly for Camel No. 9. When not one of these 
magazines bothered to formally respond to our first letter, we wrote 
again.
  This time seven of them did respond, but none have committed to drop 
the ads. Several defended themselves by pointing to their editorials on 
the dangers of smoking, but how can a young impressionable reader 
possibly take that seriously when they can flip the page and find an 
advertisement for cigarettes that make them look as sexy and 
sophisticated as perfume?
  Just look at this ad printed in the October edition of ``Glamour.'' 
This ``Dressed to the 9s'' piece encourages the ``fashion forward'' 
woman to embrace a vintage look and more closely resembles the 
magazine's regular editorial content on the latest fashions. The ad 
also helpfully recommends starting a vintage makeover with a little 
black dress.
  Quite frankly, it would be more appropriate to exhibit how it would 
look with black lungs and yellowed teeth readers would have after a 
life of smoking.
  This sort of deceptive advertising is brilliant in the eyes of 
marketers but shameful in the eyes of anyone who cares about public 
health. These ads are obviously targeted to appeal to young women and 
girls.
  And although this magazine may claim that girls and teens are only a 
small fraction of their readership, I think that everyone can relate to 
the familiar scene of a young girl in line at the grocery store with 
her mom, flipping through the magazines that the cool older girls are 
reading. This is exactly what they would see in this issue of 
``Glamour.'' There's two more pages I don't have time to flip through 
myself.
  Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen recently wrote on Camel No. 9 
cigarettes and this deliberate effort to appeal to young women and 
girls. In her piece she noted that her own 18-year-old daughter had 
tried Camel No. 9, describing its taste and smell with words like 
perfume, caramel, and chai tea.
  So R.J. Reynolds and leading women's fashion magazines are pushing 
pink stiletto cigarettes that smell like perfume, taste like chai on ad 
pages that are virtually indistinguishable from the regular fashion 
content of the magazine. Yet, they continue to insist that this ad 
blitz, timed perfectly to coincide with the start of school, is in no 
way targeting our children? It would be laughable if it wasn't so 
serious.
  Tomorrow, we're going to be having a hearing on H.R. 1108, introduced 
by my colleague Henry Waxman, which would give FDA the authority to 
regulate tobacco, including advertising, and I hope that the magazines 
that are printing these ads don't wait until Congress passes a law in 
order to do the right thing.
  If the Camel No. 9 advertising blitz that greeted our students at the 
start of the school year is any indication of their intentions, I 
shudder to think of the tricks and treats R.J. Reynolds and its new 
friends in the magazine business have in store for our young women and 
girls this Halloween.

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