Statement from King County Executive and King County Board of Health Chair on new, local campaign by tobacco company to recruit young smokers

KING COUNTY, WA - Camel brand cigarettes, which is owned by RJ Reynolds, has launched a new marketing campaign to recruit young smokers that exploits the image and vitality of the Seattle area to sell a highly addictive, deadly product. Smoking is the leading cause of disease and premature death in King County and Washington state.

The Camel campaign includes the roll-out of special edition packs featuring 10 cities, including Seattle. The Seattle campaign highlights the local music and coffee culture to appeal to youth, and the packs depict local images, including Pike Place Market and Mt. Rainier. The 1998 state tobacco settlement explicitly prohibits the marketing of tobacco to children.

King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Board of Health Chair Julia Patterson are issuing statements in opposition to this campaign.

"As a lifelong Seattleite, I'm offended by this multinational corporation appropriating our iconic regional images and culture to rope young people into deadly tobacco addiction," said King County Executive Dow Constantine. "Campaigns like these that target youth and young adults threaten the progress we've made to reduce smoking and smoking-related illnesses and deaths in King County. I'm calling on Camel to stop this campaign and to not send these exploitative packs to the shelves of our businesses."

"We've cut the smoking rate in half in just the last decade in King County, and it has proved its worth in lives and money saved," said King County Board of Health Chair Julia Patterson. "We can't take a step backward by allowing predatory marketing campaigns to lure kids into tobacco addiction."