Hong Kong law requires graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, but antismoking advocates say Philip Morris is trying to obscure those warnings by marketing plastic sleeves that fit over cigarette packs, the Associated Press reported Nov. 6.
The reusable plastic sleeve features an image of the Marlboro Man playing a guitar; World Health Organization policy advisor Judith Mackay called the product a “cynical attempt” to “reintroduce some glamour back into the sale of cigarettes.”
“It’s absolutely against the spirit of the law, which is to do away with imagery that makes these packets more attractive to young people,” she said in comments that were echoed by Wan Wai-lee, executive director of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health.
A Hong Kong spokesperson for Philip Morris said the sleeves were not meant to be reused, adding: “It’s something that we do to offer our consumers more choice.”
Source: Associated Press Nov. 2005