sample="supplemental" bates="507724242" isource="rjr" decade="1990" class="ue" date="19910301" 17a AD 2. 6 R. J. Reynolds used a series of ads to try to offset the negative publicity that the tobacco industry had been receiving. (Courtesy of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) 9 We don't advertise to children. Who are you kidding? The newspapers and magazines and billboards are filled with cigarette ads. Kids can't help but see them. How can you expect us to believe you're not trying to reach and influence our children? We're not surprised if many people feel this way-especially when years of negative publicity have made them totally cynical about our industry. Nevertheless, we'd like to set the record straight. First of all, we don't want young people to smoke. And we're running ads aimed specifically at young people advising them that we think smoking is strictly for adults. Second, research shows that among all the factors that can influence a young person to start smoking, advertising is insignificant. Kids just don't pay attention to cigarette ads, and that's exactly as it should be. Finally - and this is sometimes hard for people outside the marketing field to understand - all of our cigarette ads ware what we call "brand advertising." Its purposes is to get smokers of competitive products to switch to one of our brands, and to build the loyalty of those who already smoke one of our brands. At the present there are some 200 different cigarette brands for sale in the U.S. Many of them have only a very small fraction of the total cigarette market. Getting smokers to switch is virtually the only way a cigarette brand can meaningfully increase its business. That's why we don't advertise to young people. Of course, if you'd like to share this ad with your children, that would be just fine with us. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company