Council Requests Camel Ad's Removal

The City Council passed a resolution last night against the R.J. Reynolds Company's use of the "Cool Joe" cartoon to advertise Camel cigarettes on Cambridge billboards.

The resolution urged City Manager Robert W. Healy to increase his effort to eliminate Cool Joe billboards in Cambridge.

"There is a huge Joe Camel sign dominating Harvard Square," Councillor Francis H. Duehay '55 said. "We should not put up with this. We should speak out, and continue to speak out."

Although the resolution passed last night focused on billboard advertising, the Cool Joe character should be eliminated everywhere, according to Councillor Sheila T. Russell.

Russell and Duehay were the primary supporters of Cambridge's tough anti-smoking ordinance.

The Council's resolution followed on the heels of a public request by both the American Medical Association and the Surgeon General asking R.J. Reynolds to halt the Cool Joe ad campaign.

The campaign is allegedly aimed at "presmokers"between the ages of three and six years old, "themost vulnerable members of society," according toDuehay.

"[Children] have as high a recognition of OldJoe as Mickey Mouse," said Councillor Edward N.Cyr.

Last December, Cambridge drug store ownerRoberta Crowley Gottlieb pulled Camel cigarettesoff the shelves of her two pharmacies. She thensent a petition to R.J. Reynolds with more than1000 signatures of community members who supportedthe move.

But city councillors said yesterday'sresolution was generated independently of theCrowley Gottlieb petition. "I think that otherpeople around the country have gotten in on it[besides Crowley Gottlieb]," Cyr said.

The resolution was passed in support of ProjectAssist, a national anti-smoking campaign sponsoredby the American Cancer Society and theMassachusetts Department of Public Health

The campaign is allegedly aimed at "presmokers"between the ages of three and six years old, "themost vulnerable members of society," according toDuehay.

"[Children] have as high a recognition of OldJoe as Mickey Mouse," said Councillor Edward N.Cyr.

Last December, Cambridge drug store ownerRoberta Crowley Gottlieb pulled Camel cigarettesoff the shelves of her two pharmacies. She thensent a petition to R.J. Reynolds with more than1000 signatures of community members who supportedthe move.

But city councillors said yesterday'sresolution was generated independently of theCrowley Gottlieb petition. "I think that otherpeople around the country have gotten in on it[besides Crowley Gottlieb]," Cyr said.

The resolution was passed in support of ProjectAssist, a national anti-smoking campaign sponsoredby the American Cancer Society and theMassachusetts Department of Public Health