- Mark Dolliver

NEW YORK With the feds taking fresh aim at tobacco marketing, the industry may hope for a public backlash against such governmental intrusion. But an AdweekMedia/Harris Poll, fielded in July, indicates such hope would be in vain.

Asked what the federal government should do about tobacco advertising, a plurality of respondents (31 percent) said it should ban such ads altogether. Another 14 percent said tobacco advertising should be regulated more strictly. Twenty-seven percent said they were satisfied with the current level of regulation, and 11 percent said tobacco advertising shouldn't be regulated at all. (The rest were unsure.)

In a breakdown by age, 18-24-year-olds -- who've grown up amid regulations on smoking -- were the least likely to favor an outright ban on tobacco ads, with 24 percent endorsing that approach.

Even so, few of the 18-24s (8 percent) said tobacco ads shouldn't be regulated at all. Those 55-plus were the most pro-ban (36 percent), but also had the highest number favoring no regulation at all (13 percent).