Advertising groups join cigarette label opposition

RICHMOND, Va. – Two advertising industry groups on Friday joined some of the nation’s largest tobacco companies in opposing new graphic cigarette warning labels that include the sewn-up corpse of a smoker and pictures of diseased lungs.

The groups say the labels infringe on commercial speech and could lead to further government intrusion if unchallenged.

The Association of National Advertisers and the American Advertising Federation on Friday filed briefs with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in a lawsuit led by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co.

The companies sued the Food and Drug Administration to block the labels, saying they violate free speech laws, unfairly urge adults to shun their legal products and will cost millions.

A hearing on a preliminary injunction to stop the labels, set to appear on packs next year, is set for Wednesday, with a decision to come as soon as October.

“The new cigarette warnings are expressly designed to be propagandistic rather than informative,” wrote the groups, who represent hundreds of U.S. companies and thousands of advertising professionals. “If the government can deputize tobacco companies through their product packaging and advertisements to deliver its message, there is no reason it could not do so for other things – and history shows it will not hesitate to do so.”

In opposition to the lawsuit, the FDA said last week that the public interest in conveying the dangers of smoking outweighs the companies’ free speech rights. And it said the cost to the companies to incorporate the new graphics is not sufficient to halt the labels.