Lorillard Tobacco's Attempt to Shut Down 'truth' Campaign Shows Company's Hypocrisy in Saying it Does Not Want Kids to Smoke

Washington, DC — The Lorillard Tobacco Company's attempt to shut down the American Legacy Foundation's highly effective 'truth' anti-tobacco advertising campaign exposes Lorillard's hypocrisy and duplicity in claiming that it does not want kids to smoke.

Lorillard has written to the Legacy Foundation that it intends to ask the state Attorneys General to shut down the 'truth' campaign under the terms of the 1998 state tobacco settlement (Master Settlement Agreement) because its ads 'vilify' the tobacco industry. This is a bogus charge. The 'truth' ads don't vilify the industry. They speak the truth to kids about how the tobacco industry has targeted them and deceived them about the harm caused by tobacco products. Legacy's ads stand in stark contrast to the ineffective 'youth anti-smoking' ads being run by Lorillard and the other tobacco companies that offer no reason not to smoke and position smoking as an acceptable adult habit. The industry's ads at best are ineffective and at worse undermine the effectiveness of the real anti-smoking ads being run by Legacy and a growing number of states around the country. No industry ad campaign is less effective than Lorillard's 'Tobacco is whacko if you're a teen' campaign.

Lorillard objects to the truth ads because they resonate with kids, not because they vilify the tobacco industry. Lorillard says it does not want kids to smoke. But this dispute is really about the fact that Lorillard does not want to see ads that actually reduce tobacco use by children.