Does this blog make you want to smoke?

Here's a funny story: I grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C., within smelling distance of a cigarette plant where my school used to take field trips. This was before the feds cracked down on tobacco advertising, so Joe Camel was everywhere - including on a sweatshirt my grandfather, a retired RJ Reynolds employee, gave me (and which my mom never let me wear).

Not only did I not smoke until I got to college (making me a statistical freak of nature), when I did buy my first pack, it wasn't Camels, Winstons, Salems or any of my other hometown brands. They were Marlboro Lights, because that's what my roommate smoked.

Ask any smoker what got him or her to light up the first time, and you'll hear "My dad smoked, and I snuck some of his," or, "All my friends/coworkers smoked." It's possible that you'll find someone who swears up and down that a cartoon Camel looked so cool that he wanted to be just like him, but I doubt it. That's because our peers, siblings and, yes, parents, are still bigger influences on us than any advertisment.

Which is why this is dumb. I'm all for restricting tobacco ads to adults. This is a product that says right on the box that it will addict and eventually kill you, and a 15-year-old shouldn't be responsible for hooking himself, any more than that same 15-year-old should be allowed to buy a gun. There's a reason tobacco companies targeted kids at one point (to hook them early), and the government was right to keep them away from kids.

But to me the criticism of this Camel campaign feels like "let's jump on the tobacco industry no matter what they do." You have a contest playing off indie rock, driven by an age-restricted website, featuring destinations like Sturgis, S.D., and Austin, Texas. (Not, say, Disneyland.) The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says Reynolds is "blatantly appeal[ing] to children." Bullshit. I have an 11-year-old nephew, and I doubt he could tell you where Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is if you offered him a hundred bucks.

Adults who want to smoke are going to smoke. A lot of kids who want to smoke will find a way to do so. The way to stop them isn't to piggy-back on a cigarette marketing campaign to get publicity for your own organization. It's to be a responsible parent, grandparent, teacher, etc., monitor your kids' Internet use, smell their breath and in general involve yourself in their lives. You know, like a grown-up.