Business Notes CIGARETTES

Cigarette ads were banned from TV in 1971, but tobacco companies are finding new ways to get their names on the screen. Last week consumer-products giant Philip Morris, the world's largest cigarette maker, for the first time broadcast commercials designed to boost its corporate image. The ad, a tribute to the Bill of Rights, makes no overt reference to smoking. Even so, the Philip Morris name is almost synonymous with cigarettes, which bring in about 65% of the company's total profits.

Archrival R.J. Reynolds has been mailing out videocassettes containing commercials for its Now brand of cigarettes. The company says all the tapes ; were sent to smokers who favor Carlton, a competing brand, in an effort to win them over. But Matthew Myers, staff director of the Coalition on Smoking or Health, contends that RJR's "video loophole" could be used to circumvent Congress's original goal of shielding youngsters from tobacco ads. While the RJR tape is aimed at adults, Myers fears that such ads could creep into videocassettes of teen movies.