Lose the Camel, <i> Then</i> Walk a Mile

NEW YORK — The British Knights Inc. shoe company is offering teen-agers free athletic shoes if they turn in clothing bearing the image of Joe Camel, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s pitch ‘toon. The company calls the move a symbolic gesture.

“Joe Camel . . . is trying to increase smoking in our target market,” said Larry Schwartz, the company’s executive vice president.

But Reynolds responded with this disquieting prediction: “Children will go looking for cigarettes and cigarette promotion items in order to acquire the shoes.”