(FORTUNE Magazine) – Talk about a smoke screen. By flying charter and running their airline as a private club, Mickey Richardson, 45, and William Walts, 58, pack-a-day men both, hope to effectively duck the Federal Aviation Administration's ban on smoking on continental U.S. flights. Says Richardson of the planned carrier: ''It's a niche with a fabulous market.'' / The pair intend to be flying in and out of 30 hubs by September 1994 and report that more than 5,000 people, including some who claim to have stopped flying altogether rather than quit smoking for even a spell, have already coughed up the $25 membership fee. But some industry analysts give little for Smokers Express's long-term health. Taking off on September 1 for a promised inaugural may be tough too: Richardson, a former retail exec at Walt Disney World, and Walts, a property manager, still lack an airplane. They've been shopping for used models, including DC-9s from what was Eastern's fleet, and plan to sell ad space that would turn them into flying billboards. Richardson and Walts also promise ''club benefits besides the airline'' like newsletters and Smokers Express merchandise catalogues. These could well be touching down in members' mailboxes long before most of them see the inside of an airplane. For a startup, the company appears to have more than its share of ifs, maybes, and -- uhh -- butts. -- J.M.

Green Jello, a rock group whose nine members have called themselves ''100% stupid,'' can now add a couple of experiences with Corporate America to their learning curve. First, General Foods, maker of Jell-O brand gelatin, sent a letter suggesting the Los Angeles band change its name -- or else. The band complied and became Green Jelly. Next came Kellogg. It took exception to the group's ''Cereal Killer'' video because it turned Toucan Sam, spokescreature for Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal, into ''Toucan Son-of-Sam.'' (Cereal killer, get it?, slayer of other trademarks.) The band pulled the video. Concludes Bill Manspeaker, who founded the band, of his quick introduction to trademark law: ''I'm honored that a goof like me can cause such concern to a couple of multibillion-dollar corporations.''

It could have been worse. The canceled video also featured the slaughter of Trix Rabbit and the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, both of them trademarks of General Mills. -- J.M.