Cartoon cigarette ads broke agreement, court rules

For the second time in two months, a court says RJ Reynolds will have to pay for using cartoons in a magazine advertisement, in violation of the tobacco industry's 1998 settlement with the states.

The Washington state Court of Appeals on Monday overturned a lower court's finding that content Reynolds produced for the 2007 Rolling Stone advertisement did not include cartoons.

Though the bucolic, photographic images weren't Disney-style illustrations, the appeals court said they were cartoonishly arranged, ignored the laws of physics and suggested a blue-sky Eden where cancer and other health risks don't exist.

Several states sued RJ Reynolds over the advertisement. In May a Pennsylvania judge ruled that RJR would have to pay $302,000 or run a full-page anti-smoking ad in Rolling Stone.

A lawyer for RJ Reynolds did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The appeals court ordered a lower court judge to determine how much the company must pay.