For the last few weeks, an online promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has been using Route 66 and related images from the historic highway to help promote its Camel cigarettes.
This was revealed in a news release today by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which is criticizing RJR’s “Break Free Adventure” campaign for allegedly trying to make Camel cigarettes “appealing to kids.”
According to the advocacy group:
Several weeks ago, RJR launched this new online and direct mail marketing campaign, called the “Break Free Adventure,” in which the Camel brand “visits” 10 different U.S. locations over a 10-week period. Visitors to the Camel web site can win prizes by reading a clue and guessing where Camel is that week. Each week, a new package design for Camel cigarettes is unveiled that features the name of that week’s location and some of its iconic images. Other locations include Route 66; Bonneville Salt Flats, UT; Sturgis, SD; and Winston-Salem, NC.
The locations involved have several qualities in common, including an association with independent music, fun times, rebellion and freedom of the road. By associating Camel cigarettes with these locations and their trendy reputations, RJR is continuing its longstanding efforts to make the Camel brand appealing to youth. It truly is the Joe Camel campaign all over again. It echoes many of the youth-appealing themes of the Joe Camel campaign, in which the now-banned cartoon camel was often depicted with fast cars and motorcycles or having fun at parties.
I went to the Camel “Break Free Adventure” site and found this, shown in the partial screen capture below:
The image includes what appears to be one of the Wigwam Motels in Holbrook, Ariz., or Rialto, Calif.; a doppelgänger of the Big Texan cowboy mascot at the famous restaurant in Amarillo; a Muffler Man; and an old motel neon sign. All of these real-life Route 66 images are vague enough or have been altered sufficiently so they don’t run afoul of copyright laws.
The text on Camel’s Route 66 promo page reads:
Camel has hit “The Mother Road.” A full tank and a full feeling for the curves ahead, Camel gets its kicks on the original “superhighway.” Cruising from Chicago to L.A., this famous road to freedom is paved to break free with pit stops, motel room memories and plenty of wonderful characters along the way.
Camel is making a limited-edition pack of “Route 66: The Mother Road” cigarettes, prominently featuring the Route 66 shield. Because Route 66 itself remains in the public domain, there’s likely no copyright problem with the shield, either. These limited-edition packs will be available in December and January, according to the group.
Before I go further, I remain a devout non-smoker, and always have been. I hold no fondness for tobacco companies whatsoever.
However, this allegation that this campaign will appeal to kids doesn’t square with the evidence. I could not find the Camel promotion site with standard Google searches. I tracked it down with a semi-buried link on a reference source.
To even access the site, you must submit your name, age, address, phone number, and a state-issued form of identification. It’s difficult for an underage person to even get to the Camel promotions site. I’m way past the legal age for cigarettes, and it proved onerous for me to surf there.
As for direct mail, no one’s getting a promotion from Camel unless that household has already demonstrated an interest in cigarettes. These are targeted mailings; it’s too expensive to ship them willy-nilly to everyone.
Also, my take on the “Break Free Adventure” campaign is it appeals to late-college-age students, at the youngest. The age demographics for those enthused about Route 66 skew much higher than that.
Finally, a certain segment of the adult population smokes. Like it or not, this promotion gives the Mother Road a tad more publicity, and might entice new tourists to the road. According to the Camel website, the campaign has logged almost 180,000 page views. That’s not insignificant. If RJR wants to use Route 66 to appeal to adult smokers, they can.
But this notion that Camel is appealing to kids? Nah. It’s hard to market a campaign to a certain age group if the members of that group can’t even see it.