The first cracks are appearing in the US federal governent's regulatory edifice regarding the tough new restrictions it is considering on marketing food to kids. And while CPG manufacturers aren't popping corks, they are encouraged that the government's Interagency Working Group (IWG) finally appears to be listening to their concerns — and those of several dozen congressmen and senators who have been pushing back as well.

In response to a letter from Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, heads of three of the four agencies in the group — which consist of the FDA and other relevant regulators involved in the public effort — said that they anticipate "making significant changes to both the marketing and nutrition principles as [the IWG] develops final recommendations."

That is music to the ears of Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of the Association of National Advertisers, which has been heavily involved in the resistance to the regulators' proposed "voluntary" guidelines. As is, they would require food, beverage and restaurant brands to either modify products or cut out all marketing aimed at children under 18 for products that don't meet new nutrition standards.

The industry has been trying to get the Obama administration (and its recently intensified efforts) to let them attack the childhood-obesity problem on a self-regulatory basis, without imposing what they see as draconian government regulations.Continue reading...

That over-the-counter asthma inhaler in your bag is about to become as scarce as, well, some bags.

To comply with the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty intended to cease production of ozone-depleting substances (and which forced a change in the construction of refrigerators and air conditioners), America's Food and Drug Administration is reminding asthmatics that Primatene Mist inhalers — the only over-the-counter inhaler sold in the US — will no longer be available starting January 1st.

Even if your airways are clear, you’re probably familiar with the Primatene commercials that promised relief for a bronchial asthma attack within 15 seconds of a single pump. The simple brand message – “fastest-type asthma relief without a prescription” – remained virtually unchanged over the years. The problem, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, is what helps make that asthma relief so fast: the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that propel the active ingredient, the hormone epinephrine.Continue reading...

Forget the FDA's graphic cigarette packaging planned to scare American smokers. R.J. Reynolds wants smokers to think more positively... about the environment.

Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., a subsidiary of the U.S. tobacco giant, has been buying magazine ad space in magazines such as Esquire, Elle, Wired, and Marie Claire to advertise its "earth-friendly," "additive-free," organically-grown Natural American Spirit cigarettes.

Eco-friendly cigarettes? The process to make them is plenty green – wind-powered, few chemicals used, recycled packaging materials, a salesforce equipped with hybrid cars — but the smokes themselves are just as likely to cause lung cancer as the nonorganic ones, USA Today reports.

"It's an egregious ad. It's trying to greenwash a deadly and addictive product," says Vince Willmore of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to USA Today.Continue reading...

On the day that the Obama administration had to ruefully acknowledge that the unemployment rate is rising again – to 9.2% in June – the US Association of National Advertisers tried a clever tactic that attempted to leverage renewed fears about joblessness to advance what probably ranks as the ANA’s No. 1 public-policy concern these days.

The ANA produced a study purporting to show that a cross-agency federal proposal to curtail marketing of certain products to kids could translate to the loss of at least 74,000 American jobs in the retailing, marketing and manufacturing of foods and beverages that the government believes contribute to childhood obesity.Continue reading...

US cigarette manufacturers haven’t had to start selling the nine new pack designs that include nasty warning labels with images of rotting teeth, corpses, diseased lungs, and other such things on them but a new report will give them some hope.

The FDA requires that the new pack designs be sold starting in the fall of 2012, but a new report predicts that there won't be an immediate impact for Big Tobacco.Continue reading...

Our most-read blog posts of the past week include "The Golf Boys," Heineken, Rob Zombie and his Woolite Commercial, and more:

#1 Viral Video Watch: The Golf Boys

#2 American Fashion Takes Off in Europe

#3 Heineken Sees Payoff From Digital Strategy

#4 FDA’s Graphic New Cigarette Warnings

#5 Current Hoists New Logo and Hope for Keith Olbermann

#6 Rob Zombie Directs Scariest Woolite Commercial Ever

#7 London Olympics Ready to Battle Ambush Ads

#8 MINI Woos Porsche Drivers With Sporty Two-Seater Coupe

#9 Volkswagen Invites Fans to Write the Next Chapter

#10 Banana Republic Goes Mad for Mad Men Again

It’s somehow fitting that today, the official first day of summer in the northern hemisphere, America's Food and Drug Administration is releasing the strongest warnings against cigarette use in 25 years. Tobacco usage causes about 443,000 deaths in the US annually, according to the FDA.

Nine new cigarette package warning labels illustrate the effects of tobacco — in very graphic detail — including rotting and diseased teeth and gums; a man with a tracheotomy smoking; the corpse of a smoker; diseased lungs; and a mother holding her baby with smoke swirling around them.Continue reading...

Angry Birds and Moshi Monsters are ready for prime time at International Licensing Expo in Las Vegas.

Apple estimated to pay more than $1 billion annually to run iTunes; agrees to pay mobile patent settlement to Nokia; and sees top retail exec jumps ship to jcpenney.

Avis signs deal to buy European counterpart for $1 billion.

BBC moves to sell its iconic Television Centre in Wood Lane.

Bloomberg TV files complaint alleging Comcast/NBCU favoritism.

Cabbage Patch Kids will be revived for cartoon.Continue reading...