Enforcement Limitations of the Master Settlement Agreement

In June 1999, Brown & Williamson violated the Master Settlement Agreement by posting a tiled billboard tobacco advertisement (see below). The infraction occurred in a major population corridor in Albuquerque. The advertisement ran an estimated six weeks. The illustration below highlights the actual billboard advertisement. The message here is readily apparent. Smoking is about attitude. Smoking is kool. This is an effective message with youth.

The MSA specifies outdoor advertising may not exceed 14 square feet. It mandates that ads less than this size not be placed in proximity to each other as to form a mosaic or larger image. This practice is referred to as tiling.

Our organization asked New Mexico's attorney general office to require Brown & Williamson to compensate the community for their violation. We suggested an appropriate community service penalty. Brown & Williamson should allow and finance a counter-tobacco advertisement in its place. We ask the counter ad be maintained two days for every day of the violation. The MSA has no penalty provision, our attorney general could not require restitution.

In the six week's time Brown & Williamson continued efforts to attract New Mexico's kids, teens and youth to tobacco addiction, an additional 57,000 Americans died from tobacco-related illnesses and disease. This number approximates the number of American soldiers and service personnel lost during the entire Vietnam conflict. We dedicated a memorial in Washington, D.C. to honor and remember our veterans.

What are we really doing for the victims of tobacco?

It is inconceivable we tolerate the political and social policies related to tobacco use, smoking and second-hand smoke.