Smoked Out

[July 4th, 2007]

A bill signed last week by Gov. Ted Kulongoski to ban smoking in Oregon bars come January 2009 has tobacco giant RJ Reynolds scrambling to find any patch of ground where a Camel-branded ashtray can still be used.

Among its targets: the downtown bar Momo.

Thomas McLaughlin, co-owner of Momo, has been talking to Camel cigarette brand reps about converting part of Momo's lengthy back patio at 725 SW 10th Ave. into a sort of open-air tobacco den, with Camel footing a bill that could be as much as $5,000.

"They came in with their rep before [the ban] passed—they thought it would," McLaughlin said last week. "They basically said, 'What do you need?'"

The liberality of the offer is a far cry from when RJ Reynolds held the upper hand and first arrived in Portland with bar sponsorship back in 1997. Then the cigarette giant, through the marketing company KBA, began drafting exclusivity deals with bars across Portland—creating "Camel Clubs" and barring the sales and promotion of other brands.

A decade later, the smoking ban within Oregon's Senate Bill 571 is tossing the smokers onto the sidewalk, and leaving companies like RJ Reynolds turning to Plan C.

"They're grasping at straws," McLaughlin says.

The ban passed by the Legislature will essentially clear the air in bars and other venues once exempt from a 6-year-old smoking ban on restaurants and other indoor public spaces. But the new prohibition stops 10 feet from doors, windows and ventilation, which means the back patio of Momo will become prime nicotine real estate to suck down a Marlboro over a pint.

McLaughlin told the Camel reps that he would like to see a roof with electric coil heaters if the patio were to remain open year round to curb December nic fits. Camel has yet to return to McLaughlin with an offer.

RJ Reynolds promotions coordinator David Howard says the company is considering options in Oregon. "I'm not aware of sponsoring patios," Howard says. "If it's within the guidelines, we'd love to do that." Howard added that the company's Camel and Kool brands will continue to create promotions for non-smoking bars.

Momo has been a Camel-sponsored bar since it opened its doors five years ago. In exchange for Momo agreeing to hang up three pieces of Camel promotional material around the bar, McLaughlin gets about $100 every four months. In addition to the hanging ads, Momo gets oodles of Camel-branded bar swag for its use.

McLaughlin saves thousands of dollars a year using the free swag provided by Camel—promotional cocktail napkins, ashtrays and straws, among other branded novelties. McLaughlin puts up what he wants, uses what he can and stuffs the rest of it in his garage at home. "I've got like 27 boxes of ashtrays in there right now," he says. If he doesn't want it, he sends it back.

Beth Gray, owner of the Green Room, a Camel-filled pub with a large patio (2280 NW Thurman St.), says her RJ Reynolds contact had initiated preliminary talks with her before the ban passed. "I know there was extreme frustration for our rep," she says.

Whether the ban will prove financially frustrating for Gray and other bar owners remains an open question. Washington state officials implemented a much stricter ban in 2005—it required smokers to stay at least 25 feet from windows and doors—and the effect on business revenue has yet to be calculated, says Trent House, director of government affairs for the Washington Restaurant Association.

House says bar and restaurant profits grew by 3 percent in the first half of 2006—up from the 2 percent growth average of previous years—while gambling in bars dropped by 9 percent. "But in the restaurant industry," he says, "it's really hard to look at a 1 percent increase and say, 'It's because of this.'"

House hadn't heard of any cigarette-sponsored patios in Washington. "Some places have opted to build little smoking gazebos or decks," he says. "The issue is, if they are built, employees are not obligated to work there, since that violates the spirit of the law."

Oregon's law, however, is silent on that worker protection, says state Sen. Ginny Burdick (D-Southwest Portland), a bill sponsor.

Meanwhile, plenty of Portland watering holes say they aren't interested in a call from Camel.

"Our patio has been non-smoking for pretty much as far back as I can remember," says Mike Rowan, general manager of McTarnahan's Taproom at 2730 NW 31st Ave. "And I intend for it to stay that way."