Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 11, 1991 TAG: 9104110644
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
His plea to the tobacco industry a year ago to withdraw from direct sponsorship of sporting events "fell on indifferent ears," he said Wednesday. Now "it is up to our citizens to provide the incentive."
"As individuals, Americans can send a message to the tobacco companies in the only language they appear to understand - the language of money," Sullivan told a conference on smokeless tobacco in Columbus, Ohio.
"The message is that we will no longer financially support promoters of sporting events and others who would encourage our children to use addictive substances which will ruin their health and send them to an early grave," Sullivan added.
He did not use the word "boycott," nor did his spokesman, Campbell Gardett.
"He's calling on all people to recognize that when a sporting event is sponsored by a tobacco company, that event is being used to promote tobacco use, and he's asking them to make the decision as to whether they want to support that kind of promotion," Gardett said.
He said Sullivan does not attend sporting events sponsored by tobacco companies.
Sullivan also urged public and private institutions not to allow their facilities to be used for tobacco company-sponsored events.
The secretary has been working behind the scenes to prevent use of tennis courts here under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service for a Virginia Slims tournament this summer. The issue is under review at the Interior Department.
The tobacco industry, however, doubts that Sullivan's appeal to sports fans will affect attendance.
"I don't think the folks who attend these events would necessarily respond to that sort of inflamed rhetoric," said Walker Merryman, vice president of the Tobacco Institute, the industry's trade group.
by CNB