Judge Kessler could also impose restrictions on cigarette marketing, like limiting print advertisements to black-and-white pictures.

The tobacco companies also agreed to stringent restrictions on cigarette marketing in Minnesota and to disclose more information on their lobbying activities.

He just wants to be able to fight fire with fire, unleashing anti-tobacco advertising to take on the images built through decades of cigarette marketing.

Mr. Olson said the companies were concerned about cigarette marketing and restrictions proposed by state officials.

The 1998 agreement, which included major restrictions on cigarette marketing, listed three conditions that would reduce the amount companies had to pay.

In March 2003, the company lost a lawsuit which claimed that the use of the word "light" in cigarette marketing was misleading and violated Illinois consumer laws.

Smoking opponents have also applauded Liggett's agreement not to fight Government efforts to regulate cigarette marketing.

The California advertisements are intended to meet cigarette marketing head-on, portraying the tobacco companies as cynical and manipulative.

"Unusual," noted Kenneth E. Warner, an expert on cigarette marketing at the University of Michigan.

But critics, like the American Cancer Society, see the Uptown campaign as an alarming escalation in cigarette marketing.