Complaints for Cigarette Logos in Video Arcade Games

An anti-smoking activist in Augustia, Georgia, John W. Richards discovered images of red and white Marlboro cigarette billboards prominently featured in a popular car-racing video arcade game for teenage people. He thought that he had scented a sinful scheme by the cigarette's maker, Phillip Morris, to allure youngsters to smoke.

Richards complained to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which regulates cigarette advertising. Now, the FTC and a congressional subcommittee are asking Philip Morris and Sega, the games' manufacturer, about the reason why there is cigarette advertising in youngsters' video games.

Philip Morris says it has no idea, and that Sega is guilty of trademark infringement.