Dear Mr. Delen:
I am writing to urge that R.J. Reynolds immediately halt its “Break Free Adventure” marketing campaign and recall the special-edition cigarette packs associated with it. As you know, the 1998 state tobacco settlement explicitly prohibits the marketing of tobacco to children. That restriction has spared a generation of young Americans from Joe Camel’s call to addiction. Your company’s 10-city adventure game shamelessly revives it.
As a New Yorker and a public health professional, I am particularly disturbed that this effort to recruit young smokers exploits the name and image of Brooklyn’s vibrant Williamsburg neighborhood. Smoking is the leading cause of premature death in New York City. We have worked hard to ease its grip, and we’re making steady progress. New York City now has 350,000 fewer smokers than it had in 2002, and we’re now seeing significant declines in smoking-attributable death.
Your campaign threatens to undermine our recent gains by misrepresenting an addictive, lethal product as a passport to fun and independence. Promoting the idea that young New Yorkers can “break free” and earn “street cred” by smoking Camel cigarettes may be effective, but it is wrong.
Please pause to reflect on the harm you can cause with this campaign and the lives you can spare by withdrawing it.
