I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4279

To require studies by the Federal Trade Commission of whether tobacco

advertisements target women and minorities to promote smoking, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 21, 1994

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois, Mrs. UNSOELD,

Ms. Harman, Ms. SCHENK, Ms. WATERS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FOGLIETTA,

Ms. FURSE, Mr. TORRES, Mr. SERRANO, Mrs. MINK, Mr. UNDERWOOD,

Ms. ESHOO, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. SYNAR, and Ms.

SHEPHERD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To require studies by the Federal Trade Commission of

whether tobacco advertisements target women and minorities to promote smoking, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tobacco Advertising

5 and Promotion Studies Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 (a) ADVERTISING.—The Congress makes the follow3 ing findings respecting advertising of tobacco products:

4 (1) The tobacco industry spends over $4 billion

5 annually to advertise and promote cigarette prod6 ucts.

7 (2) Since 1964, the tobacco industry has had a

8 voluntary advertising code which it claims was im9 plemented to sufficiently ensure against children and

10 teenagers being encouraged to smoke cigarettes and

11 which, according to the tobacco industry, prohibits

12 the advertising of cigarette products from making

13 implied or direct health claims.

14 (3) The voluntary advertising code which the

15 tobacco industry claims is a sufficient safeguard

16 against improper advertising and marketing prac17 tices recommends that cigarette advertising shall not

18 suggest that cigarette smoking is ‘‘essential’’ to sex19 ual attraction, success, sophistication, or good health

20 and that models in cigarette advertisements shall be

21 at least 25 years of age and shall not be made to

22 appear under such age.

23 (4) Despite the existence of, and alleged compli24 ance by the tobacco industry with, the voluntary ad25 vertising code, a number of studies have shown that

26 cigarette advertising may be an important factor in
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1 encouraging youth, women, and minorities to take

2 up the cigarette smoking habit and may reinforce

3 decisions to continue to smoke.

4 (b) WOMEN.—The Congress makes the following

5 findings respecting women and tobacco:

6 (1) The fastest growing sector of smokers in

7 the United States are women under the age of 23.

8 Approximately 2,000 girls and young women smoke

9 their first cigarette every day.

10 (2) It is expected that between the years 2005

11 and 2010, the number of women dying from smok12 ing related diseases will exceed the number of men

13 so dying.

14 (3) Each year tobacco kills more than 147,000

15 women in the United States, mostly through ciga16 rette smoking induced heart disease, lung cancer,

17 and other lung diseases.

18 (4) As smoking by women has increased, lung

19 cancer in women has skyrocketed. In 1987 lung can20 cer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cancer

21 killer of women.

22 (5) Women who smoke as little as 1 to 4 ciga23 rettes each day increase their risk of heart attack by

24 2 to 3 times.
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1 (6) In 1991 for the first time in more than a

2 decade the prevalence of smoking among women ac3 tually increased rather than decreased.

4 (7) Women who smoke cigarettes during preg5 nancy increase the risk for low birth weight and pre6 mature infants, miscarriage, stillbirths, sudden in7 fant death syndrome, and infant mortality.

8 (8) Pregnant women who smoke deliver babies

9 an average of one-half inch shorter and 7 ounces

10 lighter than the babies of nonsmoking mothers.

11 There is a 25 to 50 percent higher rate of fetal and

12 infant death among women who smoke during preg13 nancy compared with those who do not smoke. It is

14 estimated that 4,000 infants die each year because

15 of their mother’s smoking.

16 (9) Approximately 44 percent of all women who

17 currently smoke have attempted to quit smoking in

18 the past year.

19 (10) Cigarette smoking increases women’s risk

20 of contracting cervical cancer.

21 (c) MINORITIES.—The Congress makes the following

22 findings respecting minorities and tobacco:

23 (1) Tobacco use by African-Americans is re24 sponsible for nearly 48,000 deaths each year in the

25 United States.
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1 (2) Tobacco companies aggressively target

2 members of the African-American community and

3 the growing Hispanic population, particularly in the

4 urban, inner-city environment.

5 (3) As of 1991, 29.2 percent of African-Amer6 ican adults (aged 18 and older) smoked cigarettes,

7 including 35.1 percent of African-American men and

8 24.4 percent of African-American women.

9 (4) As of 1991, 16 percent of Asian/Pacific Is10 lander adults (aged 18 and older) smoked cigarettes,

11 including 24.2 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander men

12 and 7.5 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women.

13 (5) As of 1991, 31.4 percent of American In14 dian/Alaskan Natives adults (aged 18 and older)

15 smoked cigarettes, including 27.9 percent of Amer16 ican Indian/Alaskan Natives men and 35.2 percent

17 of American Indian/Alaskan Natives women.

18 (6) As of 1991, 20.2 percent of Hispanic adults

19 (aged 18 and older) smoked cigarettes, including

20 25.2 percent of Hispanic men and 15.5 percent of

21 Hispanic women.

22 (7) African Americans suffer from tobacco-re23 lated disease at a higher rate than whites, including

24 a higher incidence of respiratory system, esophagus,

25 and oral cavity cancers.
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1 (8) Lung cancer is increasing among Hispanic

2 men.

3 SEC. 3. TOBACCO ADVERTISING STUDIES.

4 (a) STUDIES.—The Federal Trade Commission shall

5 conduct the following studies which should be based on

6 existing studies and on significant original market

7 research:

8 (1) WOMEN AND MINORITIES.—A study of cur9 rent tobacco advertising to determine—

10 (A) if and in what forms such advertising

11 and promotion uses themes, graphics, and tech12 niques which are likely to appeal specifically to

13 (i) girls and women and (ii) minorities in ways

14 that make smoking attractive to them, and

15 (B) whether targeting girls, women, and

16 minorities increases tobacco use.

17 In connection with such study, advertising of alco18 holic beverages shall be reviewed to determine the

19 extent to which such advertising targets girls and

20 women and minorities.

21 (2) WEIGHT LOSS AND MAINTENANCE.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—A study of current cig23 arette advertising and promotion to investigate

24 the targeting of girls and women in cigarette

25 advertising and promotion and tobacco compa-
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1 nies’ use of messages in their advertising and

2 promotion, explicitly or implicitly, concerning

3 weight loss and weight maintenance, the word4 ing and overall imagery used in such advertis5 ing and promotion and its impact on girls and

6 women, and the perception of girls and women,

7 including smokers and non-smokers, of the rela8 tion between the use of tobacco and weight con9 trol and maintenance.

10 (B) TERMS AND IMAGERY.—In conducting

11 the study under subparagraph (A), the Federal

12 Trade Commission shall examine the following:

13 (i) Whether women interpret the use

14 of the terms ‘‘slim’’, ‘‘light’’, ‘‘thin’’,

15 ‘‘superslim’’, and related terms and the

16 shape of cigarettes employing such terms

17 as implying that cigarette smoking results

18 in weight loss or weight maintenance.

19 (ii) Whether girl’s and women’s inter20 pretation of such terms and imagery accu21 rately reflects the actual effect of cigarette

22 smoking on weight. In particular, whether

23 girls and women are knowledgeable about

24 the transient and reversible nature of any

25 smoking induced weight loss, the precise
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1 magnitude of weight loss which may be ex2 perienced upon the taking up of smoking,

3 and the precise magnitude of weight gain

4 which may be experienced upon smoking

5 cessation.

6 (iii) The relative impact of cigarette

7 smoking on the health of girls and women

8 and whether or not girls and women are

9 knowledgeable about the impact of smok10 ing on their health.

11 (iv) Whether the Federal Trade Com12 mission has authority to take action with

13 respect to advertising and promotion using

14 such terms and imagery.

15 (v) To the extent that the Federal

16 Trade Commission does not have the au17 thority to take needed action, what legisla18 tion is needed to enable the Commission to

19 take action necessary to fully remedy the

20 study’s findings.

21 (3) LOW YIELD TOBACCO PRODUCTS.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—A study of current cig23 arette advertising and promotion to investigate

24 the apparent targeting of girls and women and

25 tobacco companies use of messages concerning
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1 so called low tar/low nicotine cigarettes (here2 after in this paragraph referred to as ‘‘low yield

3 cigarettes’’). This shall include the wording and

4 overall imagery used in advertising and pro5 motion for low yield cigarettes and the impact

6 of such advertising and promotion on both male

7 and female user’s perception of the relative risk

8 of smoking such cigarettes as opposed to the

9 smoking of non low yield cigarettes or quitting

10 smoking.

11 (B) TERMS.—In conducting the study

12 under subparagraph (A), the Federal Trade

13 Commission shall examine the following:

14 (i) Whether men and women tend to

15 interpret messages and imagery used in

16 the advertising and promotion of low yield

17 cigarettes to indicate that smoking such

18 cigarettes is less hazardous than smoking

19 other cigarettes. The Commission shall

20 look at consumer’s perception of a wide

21 range of health risks, including cardio22 vascular disease, lung and other cancers,

23 pulmonary diseases, risks during preg24 nancy, risk of environmental tobacco

25 smoke exposure to surrounding individuals,
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1 and other risks and attempt to quantify

2 the degree of risk reduction perceived by

3 the reasonable consumer. In addition, the

4 Commission shall examine whether the per5 ception of male and female smokers differ

6 in this regard.

7 (ii) Whether men’s and women’s inter8 pretation of the wording and imagery used

9 in advertising and promotion of low yield

10 cigarettes, as determined under clause (i),

11 accurately reflects the health hazards of

12 cigarettes.

13 (iii) Whether men and women who

14 smoke are likely to be influenced to smoke

15 low yield cigarettes rather than quit smok16 ing because of the advertising and pro17 motion of such cigarettes. In this regard,

18 the Commission shall examine whether

19 smokers tend to differ according to wheth20 er or not they report being concerned

21 about smoking’s negative impact on their

22 health and whether male and female smok23 ers tend to differ from each other in this

24 regard.
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1 (iv) The relative likely impact of

2 smoking of low yield cigarettes on men’s

3 and women’s health relative to quitting

4 smoking.

5 (v) Whether the Federal Trade Com6 mission has the authority to take action

7 with respect to advertising and promotion

8 of low yield cigarettes.

9 (vi) To the extent that the Commis10 sion does not have the authority to take

11 needed action, what legislation is needed to

12 enable the Commission to take action nec13 essary to fully remedy the study’s findings.

14 (4) DEMOGRAPHICS.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—A study of the demo16 graphics of targeted audiences of cigarette ad17 vertising and promotions which appear to be

18 targeted at girls, women, and minorities, includ19 ing the age, gender, race, ethnicity, and socio20 economic groups of the girls, women, and mi21 norities and, in the case of minorities, the de22 mographics of such advertising and promotions

23 for smokeless tobacco products.
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1 (B) FOCUS.—In conducting the study

2 under subparagraph (A), the Federal Trade

3 Commission shall identify—

4 (i) the media used to apparently tar5 get the groups described in subparagraph

6 (A), including the types of publications

7 used with their demographic profile, in8 cluding the demographic profile of readers

9 under the age of 18,

10 (ii) the types of promotions used, giv11 ing information about specific venues, and

12 (iii) the amount of money spent in

13 each category.

14 (b) REPORT.—The Federal Trade Commission shall

15 complete each of the studies identified in subsection (a)

16 not later than 9 months after the date of the enactment

17 of this Act and shall, not later than 12 months after such

18 date, report to the Congress—

19 (1) the results of such studies,

20 (2) whether the Federal Trade Commission has

21 the authority to take action on the study’s findings,

22 (3) any actions the Commission proposes to

23 take on the basis of such findings, and

24 (4) to the extent that the Commission does not

25 have the authority to take needed action, what legis-
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1 lation is needed to enable the Commission to take

2 action necessary to fully remedy the study’s findings.

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