These TRUTH Public service announcements that have been on the air since 1997, that are always 'hard hitting' about the tobacco companies, now in a new commercial in which the new guy Derrick (with a fro and big glasses) gets in a big furry purple suit to demonstrate what audience likes the suit---shocker! kids, ooh wow... [Note: even the suit he wears is shown on the website] In the ad, 'Derrick' (in case that is not his real name, if he isn't like Alltel's Chad) claims that a tobacco company targeted children in The Muppet Movie with having cigarettes in the movie. Now, let's see... the movie was released in 1979, 'The Muppets' at the time was more adult-related and adults enjoyed it more than kids. This was in a time before movies and merchandise was marketed exclusively to kids, no doubt it was marketed to kids but not exclusively. And the cigars in the movie, the three characters that are smoking... are human adults! A bartender, a used-car salesman, and the Hollywood mogul played by Orson Welles. I grew up watching this movie and I barely noticed the smoking as a kid. I do remember vaguely Welles smoking but I was more turned off by it than anything. The article below was made in 1998. And there was no big purple muppet in the movie, only a big brown one. I am sure if Sweetums walked up to kids at a city park, they'd be running off. The Muppet Movie itself is 28 years old and this complaint is at least 9 or 10 years old. So this 'war' is completely dead and in the ground and they clearly have nothing else to find against the tobacco companies. Come on people! You got plenty to choose from, probably Truth has already done it all.An article supporting the Truth's complaint
