SEATTLE KIDS NAME FAVORITE CIGS

President Clinton yesterday called for a survey of 22,000 young people to
see what brand of cigarettes they might be lighting up. He might just have
settled for a quick tour of Seattle.

"Camel filters in a box," said Rita Sailors, 19, who started smoking at age
11, as she hung out on University Avenue. "Marlboro reds, in a box," said a
friend.

"Camel whites, hard pack," said another friend, also 19, who started at age 9.

And downtown at Westlake Park, an 18-year-old who gave only the name of
John, said "Newport."

"Speaking of which," he said yesterday afternoon, "I've got to smoke a
cigarette. I bought this pack this morning at 10 and I've got three left."

Those three brands - Marlboro, Camel and Newport - account for 90 percent
of the cigarettes smoked by eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders surveyed last
year in a Monitoring the Future study at the University of Michigan. They
also dominated the youth market in a 1993 survey by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.

Which raises a couple of questions: If surveys already tell us what brands
kids smoke, why is the president asking for another one? And just why do
they smoke them?

Clinton wants to use the survey data "to hold tobacco companies accountable
for targeting children" through advertisements and promotions. A similar
survey, included in the comprehensive tobacco bill that died last week in
the Senate, was to be used to enforce penalties against tobacco companies
that did not succeed in reducing teen smoking to specific levels.

"If you have an annual survey that shows a substantial differential in
brand preference among young people," Clinton said, "then it will clearly
demonstrate that there is something in the nature of the advertising that
has something to do with this."

The cigarette industry is downplaying both the role of the advertising and
the value of the youth survey, to be done by the Department of Health and
Human Services.

"We don't want youths to smoke," said Brendan McCormick, a spokesman for
Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro. "We think the more important issue is
understanding why youths smoke and finding ways to reduce youth smoking.
This survey would accomplish neither of these things."

Marlboro, whose Marlboro man advertising campaign has been one of the most
celebrated in advertising history, accounts for one-third of the overall
cigarette market but nearly two-thirds of the youth market. McCormick said
the company has not done research that might explain why the brand was so
much more popular with young people, but said peer pressure and the
influence of the family were greater factors in youth smoking than
advertising.

Young people downplayed the role of advertising as well.

"I think the Newport ad is kind of stupid," said Tray Morrison, 16,
scoffing at the images of smiling models endorsing her brand, made by
Lorillard, as "Alive with Pleasure."

"How are you going to smoke and keep your teeth clean?" said a friend and
fellow Newport smoker, who would not give his name. "Come on."

Young smokers interviewed yesterday said they started smoking whatever was
available from either friends or family, then switched to another brand
they liked better.

"I actually did it to lose weight in the beginning, to tell you the truth,"
said Meg Anderson, 18, who lost 10 pounds after starting smoking about a
year ago.

The rare smoker to acknowledge the effect of a cigarette promotion was a
15-year-old who only gave her name as Vanessa.

"I was collecting Camel cash," she said. "That's basically why I smoked them."

Camel cash, which looks like U.S. cash with the likeness of Joe Camel, can
be redeemed for items ranging from Joe Camel caps to golf balls to the
"Midnight Oasis Lipstick Holder." Vanessa has yet to get anything.

"That's why I'm still smoking them," she said.

Lloyd Johnston, principal investigator for the Monitoring the Future study,
said the three top brands among young people also are the most heavily
advertised and promoted. There's a likely connection between the two, he
said.

"They spend something in the order of $5 billion a year as an industry
making their product look as attractive as possible," he said. "I have to
believe they're successful."

Erica Austin, a Washington State University communications professor who
has researched the effect of alcohol advertising on young people, said
advertising messages manage to take hold at such a young age that consumers
can forget the original reason they have for using a product.

"They've decided that the use of these products is going to benefit them
way before they actually use them," she said. Eric Sorensen's phone message
number is 206-464-8253. His e-mail address is: esorensen@seattletimes.com