The Press: Smoked Out

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In the first of two articles on filter-tip cigarettes, Reader's Digest reported this month that American Tobacco Co.'s king-size filter brand, Hit Parade, actually contains 15% more tar and 33% more nicotine than the same company's unfiltered, regular-size Lucky Strike, which sells for 2¢ less a pack. Said the Digest: "It is entirely possible to manufacture filter tips much more efficient than any now on the market." They 1) "would cost no more to produce," and 2) would give smokers "a significant reduction in cancer risk" (see MEDICINE). Last week, after 18 years, Manhattan's Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn dropped the Digest's advertising account (1956 budget: $1,500,000). Explanation: a "conflict of interest" with one of BBDO's biggest accounts, American Tobacco's Lucky Strike and Hit Parade (1956 budget: $17 million).