sample="rhetorical" bates="511387228" isource="rjr" decade="1990" class="ui" date="19940607" R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Statement on FTC Confirmation of Vote Closing their Joe Camel Investigation June 7, 1994 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has been formally advised by the Federal Trade Commission that it "has closed the investigation" of the Joe Camel matter. The commission's vote is a complete vindication of the position we've taken all along that despite some recognition of Joe Camel by youth, the character has not caused them to start smoking. We believe it is significant that the commission made their its decision on the facts and the law and not, as they said, on "intuition" or on otherwise unfounded but emotionally appealing claims of some unqualified but self-proclaimed experts in the field of advertising. Clearly, the commission made their its decision based on the law and the facts despite enormous pressure from the antismoking industry and some media representatives to do otherwise. As their the majority's statement says, the commission "spent a great deal of time and effort reviewing the difficult factual and legal questions raised by this case, including a comprehensive review of relevant studies and statistics." We have long felt that when the documents, articles and innuendo surrounding Joe Camel were examined with just such an unbiased eye, the facts simply do not support accusations that Reynolds Tobacco intentionally set out to attract youth, or that the campaign had some unique appeal to kids. ###