Business Notes Marketing

First came protests against Joe Camel, a raffish advertising character that has attracted teenagers to Camel cigarettes. Now furious grownups are opening new fronts in the wars for dollars and youthful minds. Incensed by plans for a Fox network cartoon series that would star Chester Cheetah, a pitchman for Frito-Lay's Chee-tos snacks, Action for Children's Television and six other groups last week asked the FCC to bar the program. While Fox said it will not show spots for Chee-tos during the series, ACT said the program itself would amount to a commercial and would violate FCC rules that require the strict separation of advertising and entertainment fare.

The dispute flared shortly after Kenner Products, which makes the Savage Mondo Blitzers line of action toys, said it will bow to protests against the gross-out figures by changing some of their names. Although such characters as Barf Bucket, Snot Shot and Bad Fart will remain on store shelves, they could become less irritating to parental ears.