Kwesi Ron Harris sits in front of an anti-tobacco collage, while holding a cigarette promotional package. Photo: James G. Muhammad

In its sixth year of sponsoring the KOOL Mixx campaign—a month-long competition of DJs who compete for a cash prize—activists are outraged that this year the company has incorporated hip hop images and offers a free "match stick radio" to go after its market.

"Here’s another effort to target our most vulnerable but precious resource," said Kwesi Ron Harris, the membership chairman of the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network (NAATPN). "We’re not against hip hop and we recognize the right of tobacco companies to market their products. But this is over the top."

Along with the KOOL Mixx 2004 campaign, B&W launched new KOOL Smooth Fusion flavors, which include Caribbean Chill, Midnight Berry, Mocha Taboo and Mintrigue. The new premium priced flavors come in a specially designed box that opens like a book.

Mr. Harris said the company is using the language "premium priced" to divert criticism that it is targeting youths who can’t afford the price. He also said the new hip hop designs aren’t showing up in affluent communities where young White males reside, even though they are major consumers of rap music.

"I’m excited that there’s an organized response to this campaign," said Helen Lettlow, director of Priority Populations at the American Legacy Foundation (ALF), an organization that funds anti-smoking efforts.

The ALF was scheduled to hold a press conference at Final Call press time to announce the awarding of $4.5 million to Black organizations for anti-smoking efforts.

Citing the irony of Black groups having their conferences underwritten at times by tobacco companies, she said, "Their role as leadership organizations is so important that we can’t cede that battle to the tobacco companies. The Urban League and NAACP have strong health advocacy components even though they allow those companies to sponsor conferences."

But Minister Benjamin, president of the New York-based Hip Hop Summit Action Network, said the age of the hip hop generation has grown.

"The Hip Hop Summit Action Network is on record in opposition to targeting minors with products that will be detrimental to their mental and physical health," Min. Benjamin told The Final Call. "But the truth of the matter is that hip hop cannot and should not be viewed as an exclusively youth category.

"Twenty years ago, most hip hoppers were under 18. Today, they’re from 12 to 60. Several generations now have grown up with hip hop, and as older ones have matured they have maintained their adherence to the hip hop culture."

KOOL Mixx 2004 is holding DJ mixing competitions in 11 major cities. The national finals will be held July 23-24 in Chicago. This year the competition also includes MC competitions, where poets in hip hop "rap about history, culture and politics to a rhythm and beat," a B&W press release states.

But Mr. Harris wonders if the MCs will be able to rap about the connection of tobacco and slavery and how the industry allegedly uses products that increase the addictiveness of nicotine.

"When hip hop came into existence, it was taboo to talk about alcohol or tobacco unless it was from a counter perspective," said Mr. Harris, who is the director of Prevention Programs at the Chicago-based Bobby Wright Mental Health Center. "We’re saying to the rappers that maybe they just didn’t know that they are being co-opted. We’re saying, you can’t sponsor us and kill us at the same time. All of this is insidious."

The B&W campaign even has caught the attention of Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe, who said it "appears to be targeted to youth, and particularly African American youth."

NAATPN has launched a FightKOOL campaign to counter the B&W effort. Tactics include Internet alerts; monitoring neighborhood stores for the product, especially if they’re near schools; a letter writing and postcard campaign to Brown & Williamson; and media events.

B&W spokesman Mark Smith told The Final Call the company doesn’t market to under-aged groups, but legal smokers have a right to hear its message.

"We do events in adult-only venues. We’re just trying to be relevant to people who purchase our product," he said.

While Mr. Smith acknowledged that menthol products are popular among Blacks, his company’s statistics show that 60 percent of KOOL smokers are Caucasian and 33 percent are Black. Citing Centers for Disease Control statistics, Mr. Smith said 1.2 percent of underage youth who smoke choose KOOL. He said B&W spends more than $30 million a year in youth smoking prevention efforts.

But Mr. Harris is not satisfied.

"Alcohol and tobacco are deep in the Black community’s pockets," he said, citing sponsorships of major organizations. "Maybe there’s a need for a paradigm shift. Do we need their sponsorships? At some point, there has to be a higher ground we ascribe to."