This fun-loving cartoon camel was shown drinking with friends at a bar, riding motorcycles, playing pool, lounging on the beach, performing in a rock band, offering dating advice, and just ‘hanging out with friends," all with an ever present cigarette dangling from his mouth. He sponsors events where teenagers and young adults gather, such as rock concerts, the Camel Monster Truck Show and the Camel World Class Soccer Tournament. At these events posters, caps, T-shirts, compact discs, and beach blankets are given out with the Joe Camel logo on them . No potential smoker is missed by the campaign- official Camel T-shirts even come in sizes small enough to fit babies. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco company, makers of Camel’s, insists that the cartoon character is used only to entice adult smokers to switch brands and is not targeting underage smokers. This is the same company, incidently, that continues to claim that smoking does not cause lung cancer or heart disease. The facts state otherwise. During a time when the tobacco industry experienced an overall sales decline of one percent, the sales of Camel’s increased by an amazing 14 percent. Since the R.J. Reynolds company adopted the cartoon mascot, Camel’s share of the illegal children’s cigarette marked increased from 0.5% to and estimated 32.8%, representing about $476 million in annual sales.

The use of the Old Joe campaign recently received widespread national publicity after a number of studies were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. These studies focused attention on the correlation between advertising and cigarette consumption among youth. The most widely publicized of the studies asked children between the ages of three and six to match cards with advertising logos. Almost one-third of 3-year olds correctly matched "Old Joe Camel" with cigarettes, and among 6 year olds there was no difference between the percentage who recognized the camel and the percentage who matched the Disney Channel television logo with Mickey Mouse. Another study in the same issue found a correlation between brand recognition and consumption and concluded that Camels had become the second most popular brand among young adults and teenagers since the Old Joe campaign was launched in 1988. A third study clearly demonstrated who the ad campaign was actually reaching: while 94% of high school students recognized the Old Joe cartoon character, only 58 percent knew who the logo represented. In my own pediatric practice, 51% of children 5-8 year olds know Joel Camel and what he stands for. This percentage jumps to an alarming 75% for 9-12 year olds and an incredible 98% for adolescents, aged 13-16.

These studies and observations support what many pediatricians have believed to be true for a long time. Even though the tobacco companies say they do not intend to market to young people, the Old Joe campaign is reaching children as young as three years old. More importantly, it is affecting adolescent behavior when they are most likely to make the decision to begin smoking. The American Medical Association has gone on record calling for more regulation of tobacco advertising, indicating that cigarette advertising may be an important health risk for children. The Surgeon General, Antonia Novello, asked the R. J. Reynolds Company to stop using the cartoon character to advertise, promote, and market the Camel brands. "These ads are deplorable," said Dr. Novello, herself a pediatrician, "They have to stop."

R. J. Reynolds official response to this controversy has been that "the Joe Camel campaign does not cause people to start smoking and that these cartoons do not appeal to children." These statements are both unbelievable and immoral. The ugly truth is that enticing children to smoke is the only way that tobacco companies can make up for the large number of smokers who quit or die every day. Children are a susceptible target who can also easily obtain cigarettes from vending machines, free samples, and illegal sales and yet do not have the experience to recognize the health risks and addictive properties of nicotine. Even if they do not seduce a nonsmoker to try cigarettes, these "cool" ads imply to both the potential and current smoker that cigarette smoking is acceptable.

What can parents do to help their children be less easily influenced by cigarette advertising? Children need to be warned about smoking and the advertisements that promote them. When you see a billboard of "Joe Camel" or an advertisement in a magazine, tell your children why smoking is bad for them. Let your children know that you would strongly disapprove if they started smoking. "Joe Camel" and the message he brings will seem less attractive if your children know the negative consequences if they should start smoking. Teach your child how to say "no" to peer pressure if some of their friends are smoking. Remind them that over 75 percent of teenagers do not smoke! . Parents could go further by contacting their representatives in Washington and letting them know that they should support a ban on cigarette advertising, especially when it is directed towards children. Join anti-smoking organizations such as S.T.A.T. (Stop Teenage Addition to Tobacco) at 800-998-7828. In addition, the tobacco companies need to hear from concerned parents. Many of the tobacco companies are now owned by larger corporations whose products you buy on a regular basis. For example, the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is now owned by Nabisco, makers of Oreo cookies and Wheat Thins, to name a few products. Let the parent company know that as a worried parent you intend to boycott these products until they stop encouraging your child to smoker. If you are a parent who smokes, one should make an honest effort to stop. Children learn best from example!

One of our responsibilities as parents is to protect our children from physical harm. How then, can we continue to allow them to be exposed to advertising that is promoting a dangerous and addicting product. Would we permit Joe Camel to promote cocaine? Would we approve a cartoon character to begin a national campaign to "Drive Drunk-- Just for the Fun of It?" Of course not! Yet we allow tobacco companies to advertise a drug that will eventually kill over 150,000 of today’s 11-15 year olds. In a tragic cycle, the 390,000 adult smokers killed each year by tobacco are replaced by children who begin smoking by the thousands each day. We have the power to break this cycle. It is ironic that one of the most heavily advertised consumer products in our country is one that causes the most preventable deaths. If there were any truth in advertising, then our children deserve to see Joe Camel languishing in a hospital bed with that cigarette dangling from his jowls. How cool would smoking seem then?