The Joe Camel campaign by RJR Nabisco began in 1990 in an attempt to increase the brand's sagging market share. Studies showed the campaign's appeal to young children and teenagers. In the debate that followed, several children's advocates renewed their appeals for restriction on cigarette ads. A review of the literature shows that children are at a disadvantage when confronted with television and its advertising content. Young children are more attracted by perceptual features of content, have difficulty processing all but the most explicit stimuli, and often cannot comprehend the meaning or intent of broadcast material. The government agencies that called for this research in the 1970s often ignored relevant findings when setting policy. Deregulated broadcasting of the 1980s led to a dramatic increase in the number of independent stations, children's programming, and children's advertising. The Camel campaign appealed to youngsters who read magazines like "Sports Illustrated" and saw Joe Camel on billboards and store windows. Rather than trying to guide policy, researchers should focus future work on more basic questions concerning the cognitive development of children, and how they process information from all mass media. Such study can explore the viewing and consumer situations young people face every day and how these situations trigger important steps in the cognitive development process. Such research would seem to have applications not only for school media literacy programs, but for parents wishing to raise an intelligent consumer. (Contains 120 references.) (Author/RS)