article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Studies Act of 1994''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. (a) Advertising.--The Congress makes the following findings respecting advertising of tobacco products: (1) The tobacco industry spends over $4 billion annually to advertise and promote cigarette products. (2) Since 1964, the tobacco industry has had a voluntary advertising code which it claims was implemented to sufficiently ensure against children and teenagers being encouraged to smoke cigarettes and which, according to the tobacco industry, prohibits the advertising of cigarette products from making implied or direct health claims. (3) The voluntary advertising code which the tobacco industry claims is a sufficient safeguard against improper advertising and marketing practices recommends that cigarette advertising shall not suggest that cigarette smoking is ``essential'' to sexual attraction, success, sophistication, or good health and that models in cigarette advertisements shall be at least 25 years of age and shall not be made to appear under such age. (4) Despite the existence of, and alleged compliance by the tobacco industry with, the voluntary advertising code, a number of studies have shown that cigarette advertising may be an important factor in encouraging youth, women, and minorities to take up the cigarette smoking habit and may reinforce decisions to continue to smoke. (b) Women.--The Congress makes the following findings respecting women and tobacco: (1) The fastest growing sector of smokers in the United States are women under the age of 23. Approximately 2,000 girls and young women smoke their first cigarette every day. (2) It is expected that between the years 2005 and 2010, the number of women dying from smoking related diseases will exceed the number of men so dying. (3) Each year tobacco kills more than 147,000 women in the United States, mostly through cigarette smoking induced heart disease, lung cancer, and other lung diseases. (4) As smoking by women has increased, lung cancer in women has skyrocketed. In 1987 lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cancer killer of women. (5) Women who smoke as little as 1 to 4 cigarettes each day increase their risk of heart attack by 2 to 3 times. (6) In 1991 for the first time in more than a decade the prevalence of smoking among women actually increased rather than decreased. (7) Women who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy increase the risk for low birth weight and premature infants, miscarriage, stillbirths, sudden infant death syndrome, and infant mortality. (8) Pregnant women who smoke deliver babies an average of one-half inch shorter and 7 ounces lighter than the babies of nonsmoking mothers. There is a 25 to 50 percent higher rate of fetal and infant death among women who smoke during pregnancy compared with those who do not smoke. It is estimated that 4,000 infants die each year because of their mother's smoking. (9) Approximately 44 percent of all women who currently smoke have attempted to quit smoking in the past year. (10) Cigarette smoking increases women's risk of contracting cervical cancer. (c) Minorities.--The Congress makes the following findings respecting minorities and tobacco: (1) Tobacco use by African-Americans is responsible for nearly 48,000 deaths each year in the United States. (2) Tobacco companies aggressively target members of the African-American community and the growing Hispanic population, particularly in the urban, inner-city environment. (3) As of 1991, 29.2 percent of African-American adults (aged 18 and older) smoked cigarettes, including 35.1 percent of African-American men and 24.4 percent of African-American women. (4) As of 1991, 16 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander adults (aged 18 and older) smoked cigarettes, including 24.2 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander men and 7.5 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women. (5) As of 1991, 31.4 percent of American Indian/Alaskan Natives adults (aged 18 and older) smoked cigarettes, including 27.9 percent of American Indian/Alaskan Natives men and 35.2 percent of American Indian/Alaskan Natives women. (6) As of 1991, 20.2 percent of Hispanic adults (aged 18 and older) smoked cigarettes, including 25.2 percent of Hispanic men and 15.5 percent of Hispanic women. (7) African Americans suffer from tobacco-related disease at a higher rate than whites, including a higher incidence of respiratory system, esophagus, and oral cavity cancers. (8) Lung cancer is increasing among Hispanic men. SEC. 3. TOBACCO ADVERTISING STUDIES. (a) Studies.--The Federal Trade Commission shall conduct the following studies which should be based on existing studies and on significant original market research: (1) Women and minorities.--A study of current tobacco advertising to determine-- (A) if and in what forms such advertising and promotion uses themes, graphics, and techniques which are likely to appeal specifically to (i) girls and women and (ii) minorities in ways that make smoking attractive to them, and (B) whether targeting girls, women, and minorities increases tobacco use. In connection with such study, advertising of alcoholic beverages shall be reviewed to determine the extent to which such advertising targets girls and women and minorities. (2) Weight loss and maintenance.-- (A) In general.--A study of current cigarette advertising and promotion to investigate the targeting of girls and women in cigarette advertising and promotion and tobacco companies' use of messages in their advertising and promotion, explicitly or implicitly, concerning weight loss and weight maintenance, the wording and overall imagery used in such advertising and promotion and its impact on girls and women, and the perception of girls and women, including smokers and non-smokers, of the relation between the use of tobacco and weight control and maintenance. (B) Terms and imagery.--In conducting the study under subparagraph (A), the Federal Trade Commission shall examine the following: (i) Whether women interpret the use of the terms ``slim'', ``light'', ``thin'', ``superslim'', and related terms and the shape of cigarettes employing such terms as implying that cigarette smoking results in weight loss or weight maintenance. (ii) Whether girl's and women's interpretation of such terms and imagery accurately reflects the actual effect of cigarette smoking on weight. In particular, whether girls and women are knowledgeable about the transient and reversible nature of any smoking induced weight loss, the precise magnitude of weight loss which may be experienced upon the taking up of smoking, and the precise magnitude of weight gain which may be experienced upon smoking cessation. (iii) The relative impact of cigarette smoking on the health of girls and women and whether or not girls and women are knowledgeable about the impact of smoking on their health. (iv) Whether the Federal Trade Commission has authority to take action with respect to advertising and promotion using such terms and imagery. (v) To the extent that the Federal Trade Commission does not have the authority to take needed action, what legislation is needed to enable the Commission to take action necessary to fully remedy the study's findings. (3) Low yield tobacco products.-- (A) In general.--A study of current cigarette advertising and promotion to investigate the apparent targeting of girls and women and tobacco companies use of messages concerning so called low tar/low nicotine cigarettes (hereafter in this paragraph referred to as ``low yield cigarettes''). This shall include the wording and overall imagery used in advertising and promotion for low yield cigarettes and the impact of such advertising and promotion on both male and female user's perception of the relative risk of smoking such cigarettes as opposed to the smoking of non low yield cigarettes or quitting smoking. (B) Terms.--In conducting the study under subparagraph (A), the Federal Trade Commission shall examine the following: (i) Whether men and women tend to interpret messages and imagery used in the advertising and promotion of low yield cigarettes to indicate that smoking such cigarettes is less hazardous than smoking other cigarettes. The Commission shall look at consumer's perception of a wide range of health risks, including cardiovascular disease, lung and other cancers, pulmonary diseases, risks during pregnancy, risk of environmental tobacco smoke exposure to surrounding individuals, and other risks and attempt to quantify the degree of risk reduction perceived by the reasonable consumer. In addition, the Commission shall examine whether the perception of male and female smokers differ in this regard. (ii) Whether men's and women's interpretation of the wording and imagery used in advertising and promotion of low yield cigarettes, as determined under clause (i), accurately reflects the health hazards of cigarettes. (iii) Whether men and women who smoke are likely to be influenced to smoke low yield cigarettes rather than quit smoking because of the advertising and promotion of such cigarettes. In this regard, the Commission shall examine whether smokers tend to differ according to whether or not they report being concerned about smoking's negative impact on their health and whether male and female smokers tend to differ from each other in this regard. (iv) The relative likely impact of smoking of low yield cigarettes on men's and women's health relative to quitting smoking. (v) Whether the Federal Trade Commission has the authority to take action with respect to advertising and promotion of low yield cigarettes. (vi) To the extent that the Commission does not have the authority to take needed action, what legislation is needed to enable the Commission to take action necessary to fully remedy the study's findings. (4) Demographics.-- (A) In general.--A study of the demographics of targeted audiences of cigarette advertising and promotions which appear to be targeted at girls, women, and minorities, including the age, gender, race, ethnicity, and socio-economic groups of the girls, women, and minorities and, in the case of minorities, the demographics of such advertising and promotions for smokeless tobacco products. (B) Focus.--In conducting the study under subparagraph (A), the Federal Trade Commission shall identify-- (i) the media used to apparently target the groups described in subparagraph (A), including the types of publications used with their demographic profile, including the demographic profile of readers under the age of 18, (ii) the types of promotions used, giving information about specific venues, and (iii) the amount of money spent in each category. (b) Report.--The Federal Trade Commission shall complete each of the studies identified in subsection (a) not later than 9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall, not later than 12 months after such date, report to the Congress-- (1) the results of such studies, (2) whether the Federal Trade Commission has the authority to take action on the study's findings, (3) any actions the Commission proposes to take on the basis of such findings, and (4) to the extent that the Commission does not have the authority to take needed action, what legislation is needed to enable the Commission to take action necessary to fully remedy the study's findings.
summary: Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Studies Act of 1994 - Directs the Federal Trade Commission to study and report to the Congress on specified aspects of tobacco advertising and promotion targeted at women and certain ethnic groups.