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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department has asked the state Attorney General to investigate a Charleston bar owner who flouted the county's expanded smoking ban by setting up a giant inflatable cigarette pack replica outside his bar.

Health officials allege that Blackhawk Saloon owner Kerry "Paco" Ellison violated the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement that limits cigarette marketing and advertising. Last month, the 16-by-18-foot inflatable Winston cigarette pack was visible for weeks to motorists on Interstate 64, just east of the state Capitol.

"It was visible to children," said Brenda Isaac, the health board's president. "We thought people should look into whether it's breaking federal law. You can't put up a billboard like this and advertise cigarettes."

Ellison, who has butted heads with the Health Department over the county's expanded smoking ban for more than a year, said he put up the custom inflatable to help advertise a "smoker's night" at his bar on Aug. 19.

On Wednesday, the giant Winston advertisement was hanging outside on the side of the bar -- deflated. Ellison said a fan used to blow air into the inflatable was broken.

After learning of the Health Department's complaint, Ellison vowed to fix the fan's motor and redisplay the inflatable later today.

"I'm going to have to get that up again," Ellison said. "I'll have to do that. I call it my inflatable doll."

Chief Deputy Attorney General Fran Hughes said her office has assigned lawyers to investigate. The attorneys planned to meet today to discuss the allegations.

"We're responsible for enforcement under the tobacco settlement," Hughes said. "If there's a direct violation, we'll do what we're responsible for doing under the terms of the agreement and proceed accordingly."

Ellison said the Winston inflatable was originally displayed at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, which hosts NASCAR races. The product replica was discarded at some point, he said.

"It was in a Dumpster down there, and some guy fished it out," he said.

The inflatable was passed from person to person over the years, and a Blackhawk customer gave it to Ellison as a gift last summer, he said.

Ellison said Winston did not pay him to display the air-blown advertisement.

"I don't sell cigarettes," said Ellison, who added he put the display on a 12-foot-high platform so it would be visible from I-64. "It's not like I'm advertising them. I'm standing up for an injustice."

During the past year, the Health Department has filed six criminal complaints against Ellison in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, alleging that he has repeatedly violated the county's expanded Clean Indoor Air Act.

The regulations, which took effect in July 2008, prohibit smoking in bars, gambling parlors and at the Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in Nitro.

Earlier this month, a Kanawha County judge upheld a previous conviction against Ellison in Magistrate Court, ruling that the bar owner passed out ashtrays and allowed customers to smoke. Ellison plans to appeal the verdict and $200 fine. He wants a jury trial.

Four more complaints against the Blackhawk Saloon remain pending in Magistrate Court. One of the complaints was dismissed earlier this year.

The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was reached between U.S. tobacco companies and Attorney General offices in 46 states, including West Virginia.

As part of the settlement, the nation's four largest tobacco companies agreed to restrict their marketing, especially advertisements that target youth. R.J. Reynolds' Winston brand sponsored the NASCAR stock car circuit from 1971 to 2003.