Chapter 10: Three-Ton Dog on the Prowl Summary

The so called "tar czar" (charged with enforcing cigarette advertising), Robert Meyner, was selected in 1964. Meyner reported to the FTC that his staff had thrown out nearly 10% of proposed ads due to their content (too sporty, targeted to young people, etc...). Meyner chastised Lorillard for trying to show tar labels for its filtered brand, True. Lorillard argued that it could not promote the safety of their product without mentioning lower tar. They eventually broke with the Cigarette Advertising Code and published their "lower yield" claims anyway.

With cigarette sales continuing to rise, despite the warning labels, The Federal Communications Commission looked at applying its fairness doctrine to television advertising. It was determined that for every four cigarette ads run, a public service announcement detailing the dangers of smoking had to be run in...