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Philip Morris International Commences New Plans to Spread Death and Disease
Philip Morris International today starts business as an independent company, no longer affiliated with Philip Morris USA or the parent company, Altria. Philip Morris USA will sell Marlboro and other cigarettes in the United States. Philip Morris International will trample over the rest of the world.
Public health advocates have worried and speculated over the past year about what this move may mean, but Philip Morris International has now removed all doubts.
The world is about to meet a Philip Morris International that will be even more predatory in pushing its toxic products worldwide.
The new Philip Morris International will be unconstrained by public opinion in the United States -- the home country and largest market of the old, unified Philip Morris -- and will no longer fear lawsuits in the United States.
As a result, Thomas Russo of the investment fund Gardner Russo & Gardner tells Bloomberg, the company "won't have to worry about getting pre-approval from the U.S. for things that are perfectly acceptable in foreign markets." Russo's firm owns 5.7 million shares of Altria and now Philip Morris International.
A commentator for The Motley Fool investment advice service writes, "the Marlboro Man is finally free to roam the globe unfettered by the legal and marketing shackles of the U.S. domestic market."
In February, the World Health Organization issued a new report on the global tobacco epidemic. WHO estimates the Big Tobacco-fueled epidemic now kills more than 5 million people every year.
Five million people.
By 2030, WHO estimates 8 million will die a year from tobacco-related disease, 80 percent in the developing world.
The WHO report emphasizes that known and proven public health policies can dramatically reduce smoking rates. These policies include indoor smoke-free policies; bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; heightened taxes; effective warnings; and cessation programs. These "strategies are within the reach of every country, rich or poor and, when combined as a package, offer us the best chance of reversing this growing epidemic," says WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.
Most countries have failed to adopt these policies, thanks in no small part to decades-long efforts by Philip Morris and the rest of Big Tobacco to deploy political power to block public health initiatives. Thanks to the momentum surrounding a global tobacco treaty, known as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, adopted in 2005, this is starting to change. There's a long way to go, but countries are increasingly adopting sound public health measures to combat Big Tobacco.
Now Philip Morris International has signaled its initial plans to subvert these policies.
The company has announced plans to inflict on the world an array of new products, packages and marketing efforts. These are designed to undermine smoke-free workplace rules, defeat tobacco taxes, segment markets with specially flavored products, offer flavored cigarettes sure to appeal to youth, and overcome marketing restrictions.
The Chief Operating Officer of Philip Morris International, Andre Calantzopoulos, detailed in a March investor presentation two new products, Marlboro Wides, "a shorter cigarette with a wider diameter," and Marlboro Intense, "a rich, flavorful, shorter cigarette."
Sounds innocent enough, as far as these things go.
That's only to the innocent mind.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Philip Morris International's underlying objective: "The idea behind Intense is to appeal to customers who, due to indoor smoking bans, want to dash outside for a quick nicotine hit but don't always finish a full-size cigarette."
Workplace and indoor smoke-free rules protect people from second-hand smoke, but also make it harder for smokers to smoke. The inconvenience (and stigma of needing to leave the office or restaurant to smoke) helps smokers smoke less and, often, quit. Subverting smoke-free bans will damage an important tool to reduce smoking.
Philip Morris International says it can adapt to high taxes. If applied per pack (or per cigarette), rather than as a percentage of price, high taxes more severely impact low-priced brands (and can help shift smokers to premium brands like Marlboro). But taxes based on price hurt Philip Morris International.
Philip Morris International's response? "Other Tobacco Products," which Calantzopoulos describes as "tax-driven substitutes for low-price cigarettes." These include, says Calantzopoulos, "the 'tobacco block,' which I would describe as the perfect make-your-own cigarette device." In Germany, roll-your-own cigarettes are taxed far less than manufactured cigarettes, and Philip Morris International's "tobacco block" is rapidly gaining market share.
One of the great industry deceptions over the last several decades is selling cigarettes called "lights" (as in Marlboro Lights), "low" or "mild" -- all designed to deceive smokers into thinking they are safer.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control says these inherently misleading terms should be barred. Like other companies in this regard, Philip Morris has been moving to replace the names with color coding -- aiming to convey the same ideas, without the now-controversial terms.
Calantzopoulos says Philip Morris International will work to more clearly differentiate Marlboro Gold (lights) from Marlboro Red (traditional) to "increase their appeal to consumer groups and segments that Marlboro has not traditionally addressed."
Another, related initiative is Marlboro Filter Plus, which claims to reduce tar levels. First launched in Korea, in 2006, Calantzopoulos says it has recorded "an impressive 22 percent share" among what the company designates as "Young Adult Smokers."
Philip Morris International also is unrolling a range of new Marlboro products with obvious attraction for youth. These include Marlboro Ice Mint, Marlboro Crisp Mint and Marlboro Fresh Mint, introduced into Japan and Hong Kong last year. It is exporting clove products from Indonesia.
Responding to increasing advertising restrictions and large, pictorial warnings required on packs, Marlboro is focusing increased attention on packaging. Fancy slide packs make the package more of a marketing device than ever before, and may be able to obscure warning labels.
Most worrisome of all may be the company's forays into China, the biggest cigarette market in the world, which has largely been closed to foreign multinationals. Philip Morris International has hooked up with the China National Tobacco Company, which controls sales in China. Philip Morris International will sell Chinese brands in Europe. Much more importantly, licensed versions of Marlboro are expected to be available in China starting this summer. The Chinese aren't letting Philip Morris International in quickly -- Calantzopoulos says "we do not foresee a material impact on our volume and profitability in the near future." But, he adds, "we believe this long-term strategic cooperation will prove to be mutually beneficial and form the foundation for strong long-term growth."
What does long-term growth mean? In part, it means gaining market share among China's 350 million smokers. But it also means expanding the market, by selling to girls and women. About 60 percent of men in China smoke; only 2 or 3 percent of women do so.
The global vilification of Big Tobacco over the last decade and a half is one of the world's great public health stories. Directly connected to that vilification has been a reduction in smoking, and adoption of life-saving policies that will avert millions of deaths.
Yet here comes Philip Morris International, now the world's largest nongovernmental tobacco company. It is permitted to break off from Altria with no regulatory restraint. It proceeds to announce plans to subvert the public health policies that offer the best hope for reducing the toll of tobacco-related death and disease. The markets applaud, governments are mute.
What an extraordinary commentary on the political and ideological potency of the multinational corporation -- and the idea that corporations should presumptively be free to do what they want, with only the most minimal of restraints.
Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor, and director of Essential Action, which works to curb the global tobacco epidemic.
(c) Robert Weissman
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37 Comments so far
Show AllMost of the world knows that cigarette smoking is dangerous, causes cancer etc- to that end, if people in this day and age, in any country light up, they do so knowing the risks.
That said, I don't see the problem.
You are correct angst when referring to responsible, informed adults, but not to those most vulnerable to this kind of exploitation, namely children, especially poor children (and even some uneducated or undereducated adults).
It's rather hypocritical jail other drug 'pushers,' while allowing corporations to do the same. In the interest of public health, there should be a ban on ALL tobacco advertising internationally, as well as greater funding for health-oriented educational programs. Now THAT would be some trade agreement! :)
Id be for a strict limitation as opposed to a ban on cig ads - the reason being they ARE a legal product. With reasonable restrictions, I have no problem with the ads - dont target kids should be job 1....and dont play John Tesh in the background should be the rule for all advertisements. sorry, I feel that John Tesh is the leader of the new world order.
Banning marijuana and heroin - good health policy. Banning cigarettes - nanny state.
Admittedly as a smoker, I do find it amusing that many of the anti-tobacco types are the same ones that want marijuana legalized.
Tobacco PR: Weapons of mass deception...
This madness (treating a "nicotine delivery device" - this is what a cigarette really is - as a legal product) could be stopped very easily:
Stop pretending that nicotine is less dangerous than illegal drugs
(it is more addictive than cocaine or heroin; it kills much more people than all other drugs combined)
just because it has become socially acceptable as a result of a relentless PR-campaign which started in the 1950ies and is still going on....
To declare a "war on (certain)drugs" but at the same time allow the production and marketing of the most dangerous drug on a global scale, sold to the public as a "lifestyle-product" is the greatest hypocrisy in the field of "public health" policy.
Smoking is a pathological, self-destructive and anti-social behaviour not an expression of lifestyle, liberalism or good taste, it is the anti-thesis of "personal choice" since smokers are in reality nothing but "nicotine-slaves" (as intended by Big Tobacco..)
But cynics will quickly point out that since the planet is suffering from overpopulation, the numerous toxic and carcinogenic substances in cigarette smoke are helping to solve this problem while at the same time generating plenty of tobacco tax to fill budget holes....
When I was a kid in grade school, there was a lot of crap about Captain John Smith and Pocahontas at Jamestown, but not much about how exporting tobacco to Europe was the only thing that worked to sustain the first colony in the new world. Evidently we're still up to the same old tricks 400 years later, but today it's more about selling the now-known addiction via brands and marketing than about paying farmers to grow a burnable plant.
There's an interesting article in the March 31st issue of the New Yorker called The Wonder Years: Boom times in a Chinese village which, unfortunately, isn't online so I can't link to it. Some of what it describes is the part smoking plays in business, with a rundown of which brands of cigarettes confer what kind of status. I don't think even the Chinese government, which is usually ready to ban whatever it wants to ban consequences-be-damned, would have any luck if it took on smoking (which it is unlikely to do).
China will consume anything-but maybe its a biological reaction given their enormous population. Have to reduce the numbers there somehow.
Look - if people want to smoke, or eat fast food, or drink heavily, or do drugs - it's their problem, not some evil corporation's. It's like the movies - if people don't want to see films about the illegal Iraq invasion and massacre, then said films will not be made; if people want to see films about pretty people being tortured, well... the "Saw" series has already pulled in over $500M domestic, and Parts V and VI are already being produced.
And PM is really, really dedicated to helping people NOT smoke - check out their Quit Assist page. They're all about keeping us from using their top selling product!!
THE big difference between pot and tobacco is i smoke at most 4 ''joints'' in a day..without the addiction of tobacco..now smokers who are ADDICTED, smoke a heck of a lot more than my measly 4 a day ''habit''.
As well i can go (because of the police state induced hyper price or the plain lack of product) for MONTHS without a toke.. and no withdrawal or ill effects lets see a smoker do that.
You don't need to smoke pot to get it's benefits either..smoking it is simply the most efficient use of the product.. as in mileage.. if it was readily available , eating it or processing it into various food items is the preferred method of use.
Let see you try a tobacco browney, or cookie
Daniel david: empires were built on people's addictions. Hence, the British East India Company, the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) and other hooligans at the expense of millions of opium addicts, and at gunpoint might I add.
I have no problem with legalizing pot and selling it as a controlled substance like alcohol. Additionally, growing hemp for other uses would be beneficial. Even so, I wouldn't want to see pot-smoking ads. I say live and let live as much as that is feasible. Sell cigarettes as well for those who are of age and wish to smoke, just ban cigarette advertising. Angst said advertising should be restricted not banned. Well, that's been tried, but still cig companies think of clever new ruses to hook youngsters, knowing that if they don't get them hooked before a certain age, they won't likely start.
I was with this article (more or less) up to here:
"The inconvenience (and stigma of needing to leave the office or restaurant to smoke) -helps- smokers smoke less..."
I wanted to choke. That's the same kind of "help" that has been offered by every boot on every face throughout mankind. That kind of sickening authoritarianism is just as unacceptable being whether from the left or the right.
Sorry so terse.
As disgusting as this "strategy" is, it is still an act of desperation by an industry on the run. Smoking will decline everywhere with more information about its effects. Sadly people will die in the process but that's going on now anyhow yet I believe it will eventually wind down.
There are bans in many traditional smokers' havens like France, Germany and Italy. Even in Turkey, conceivably a society hooked on cigarettes, they are about to ban public smoking and people are quitting in massive numbers. The young as everywhere else are the most vulnerable, but only education and consequently, peer culture can resolve that.
I am in favor of any initiatives to reduce smoking, however I would be more exalted by a massive international effort to end the Iraq War. The current US candidates pretty much ensure that America cannot, will not, stop this madness.
Maybe the rest of the world needs to take to the streets ... and frankly I don't care if they are all smoking at the time.
Look, why pick on Tobacco Companies? Every entrepreneur on earth is in business, not for the welfare of the human race which is infinitely gullible, but to maximize profits. That's what capitalism is all about. That's why it's so disgusting.
I do agree that Tobacco Companies are the most disgusting (they couldn't care less how many people they kill) of the Capitalist Corporations but they are closely followed by many others.
Capitalism is a malignant cancer. It needs to be tightly controlled and some of its products banned.
www.dangerouscreation.com
Five million dead a year and maybe 8 million soon? That's more than died in WWI,(1914-1918) and a close second to the WWII dead. I doubt illegal drug and arms runners can match these figures. On the other hand, licensed war-profiteers probably come close. But they're legal, just like "NICK O. TEEN."
Q: Did you hear about the smokers' rights march?
A: They could only go a block and a half.
Always love the ever so know what's best for everyone else Mentality, AngstForThePeople, words truer never spoken. You SHALL NOT eat such and such for your child WILL become OBESE, what's that now a days considering full grown women go , I'd hazard, 89 lbs, MUST NEVER PARTAKE OF NICOTINE IN AIR, can't smoke outside anymore, Europe, Big Ass Label, Cigarettes Kill, 3/4 of the box of smokes, they certainly make it known, Turks ban smoking, HA!, having been involved in that arena for 25 years, a Turkish man in a coffee House watching Futbol, say Galatasaray V Fenerbahce, ban Tobacco? Hayir, Inshallah!!! IT will never happen there, not the coffee houses.
Yet today they say those dastardly cellular phones along with their bluetooth earpiece, kill 'ya quicker than anything ever in the world ever, it is what it is.
Mania exits..........
Not sure I understand what all the fuss is about. Still a US company doing what is has always been doing, just making a separation, probably some tax benefits involved. Also, PMI is unlikely to be sued by Americans, which probably dragged down Altrias net worth given the potential liability, so PMI will likely be a more valuable company to investors.
Where is the Philip Morris International stock listed?
Effective 31 March 2008, the primary listing for Philip Morris International stock is on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PM." It is also listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris and SWX Swiss stock exchanges.
Where is Philip Morris International's corporate headquarters located? Is
Philip Morris International a U.S.- based entity? If so, where is it incorporated?
Following the spin-off, Philip Morris International's corporate headquarters is in New York City. The company's Operations Center is in Lausanne, Switzerland. Philip Morris International is a U.S.-based entity incorporated in Virginia.
Does Philip Morris International have an office in the U.S.?
Philip Morris International has offices at 120 Park Avenue, New York, NY for its corporate headquarters and Latin America and Canada regional headquarters.
Does Philip Morris International pay U.S. income taxes?
Yes.
Do Philip Morris International's financial statements comply with U.S. GAAP and Sarbanes-Oxley regulations?
Yes.
I mean, I live in a place where the most popular local brand of cigarrete is named "Long Life Cigarettes" and whose most popular brand of toothpaste used to be Darkie Toothpaste (envision black man smiling with big white teeth). Marlboro and PMI are hardly a global threat.
If other countries want to protect their people, let them. If they don't care, like ours doesn't, too bad, but thats the world we live in.
And it's all down to the preposterous fiction of companies fully owning other companies, and yet benefiting from limited liability.
Tobacco is fatal due it's status as grown in plutonium laden fertilizer.
Dr. Franz established in 1982 that tobacco contains powdered radioactive heavy metal due phosphorous for phosphate fertilizer being derived from coffinite, so named due it putting the native americans who were tasked with mining it in coffins. Coffinite is an ore heavy with radioactive material that is not properly processed to remove such radioactive isotopes before some of it's still heavy metal dirty phosphorous is added to phosphate fertilizer.
That tobacco is radioactive worth 1000 chest xrays per year for a pack a day smoker has been known since the work of Dr. Dade Moeller, harvard research scientist in 1964. This represents 44 years of mass murder profiteered on by political contribution accepting politicians and tobacco executives. 17 states have legislated a requirement to grow tobacco in plutonium laden phosphate fertilizer.
"Five million dead a year and maybe 8 million soon?" Doesn't that rate the manufacture and sale of cigarettes a Crime Against Humanity?
There is no need to worry about whether Philip Morris International is subject to US Law. It sounds more like a matter for the International Court in the Hague.
In any sane world tobacco would be seen for what it is: a costly form of murder that is subsidised by taxpayers.
We are paying others to kill us so it's really a murder and suicide pact.
It may be proof there is no defense against advertizing, short of not being subject to it, or it may just be proof we are very crazy.
It's OK for PM to market death and disease openly around the world with it's tobacco products, but marijuana is still illegal????
Cigarette smoking is highly addictive:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/440407
Sorry that link doesn't work...if you are interested google DSM nicotine dependence.
The truth is pure tobacco, unaltered by chemicals and addiditives and filters is not that bad for your health, some say even good for your health if used moderately like the American Indians did. If you have to smoke, roll your own and buy the brand "American Spirit" which is "organic" tobacco. The media is right to condemn Philip Morris and cigarettes which are truly cancer sticks with all their chemicals and additives but it should talk more about the medicinal effects of unprocessed tobacco,... marijuana is also know to be useful in fighting and preventing cancer...sure these things abused will hurt you but when used correctly they can be helpful...furthermore there is a direct correlation between drug traffic and terrorism finance...we should legalize it, tax it, as usual we got it all backwards...read Loretta Napoleoni she spells it out, in short terrorism is a product and tool of unregulated capitalism and privatized oil companies. We should legalize marijuana and control it, we should nationalize oil companies and regulate severely banks, we should nationalize the federal reserve, which is currently another private bank, owned by the Rockefellers, the Morgans, the Rothchilds etc. you see its all connected. Vote Obama!!!
I feel like everyone is missing the point that often, people CHOOSE to smoke. (You can all whine about marketing gimmicks and addiction all you want, but come on.)
I won't argue about the evils of corporations, I wholeheartedly agree. But seriously... if I want to have a cigarette, I'm just going to have a cigarette, okay?
Smoking, whatevs. Chemical additives are EVIL and kill people. That is the evil that is being spread around the world. Without a single educated person to say a peep, they are free to kill. Overpopulation is a problem for the greedy who dont want to share.
I think most multinational corporations are scourges on this earth. That said, Philip Morris mey be serving the purpose of beginning to control the world population problem. If people waht to smoke to the extent that it could kill them that is their choice, however, how many non-smokers are they taking with them? If countries are serious about their people not smoking, perhaps they should institute education programs that make it undesireable.
While we're at it, how about education programs against arms and chemical pesticide and fertilizer companies? Fat chance!
Mr. Weissman,
Smoking is and should be a matter of personal choice. It is one of the legal toxins we are allowed to use. Certainly, it is far better to not use tobacco from the standpoint of health, but so is not eating junkfood, fastfood, drinking sugary drinks or excessive amounts of alcohol, indulging in risky sexual behjavior, participation in extreme sports or any other dangerous activity.
The major objection from the viewpoint of the non-smoking public should be the cost of healthcare associated with not just smoking, but dietary choices. The impact on healthcare costs is a burden imposed on society, whether in a health insurance model or universal healthcare model. Both smoking and poor dietary choices adversly affect the general health, resulting much higher costs shared by nearly all of the population.
How far are we, as a society, willing to restrict or regulate the consumption of products, now legal, that are known to be detrimental to health? Education can only go so far, but what is society's role in legislating?
As to the marijuana issue, I used it way in the past, and very seldom since. Personally, it is helpful as an adjunct to pharmaceuticals prescribed for muscle spasms and pinched nerves. It is helpful in any number of other medical conditions and should be legalized for medical use and decriminalized for recreational use. Just from the fiscal aspect, the estimated $100 billion plus spent at federal, state, and local levels for investigation, apprehension, prosecution, and incarceration of marijuana crimes makes no sense. An estimated 80% of those incarcerated are for possession only. We could certainly put the wasted money to better use; roads, bridges, jobs, healthcare, and education are but a few.
Having smoked both marijuana previously and tobacco in the present, I can attest that tobacco results in cravings that I never experienced with marijuana. For me tobacco is more of a habit than an addiction. I usually only smoke around others that smoke, even though I usually have tobacco or cigarettes available. Some people just have more addictive personalities.
The support from many conservatives and social activists for the decriminalization of marijuana and a rethinking of the War On Drugs is widespread and growing. Visit www.drugpolicy.org for a way to learn more and input your support.
I gave up cold turkey on cigarette smoking the day I found out that Big Tobacco are lying murdering bastards. I just said "That's it, I'm not giving lying murdering bastards any profits." And I quit. No patch. Nothing. Haven't smoked in over 8 years since that day. I would smoke 1-2 packs a day up until that point.
I would disagree that it is commencing any New Plans though. It's the same old death and decay plan that these unprincipled death-dealing merchants have been dealing ever since they started.
I would put each of these 'people' into hermetically sealed environments without medical insurance, and have them breathe their product in day in and day out for the rest of their miserable death and disease-funded murderous lives. They will soon learn and so would those who may choose to follow them, that life is infinitely more valuable than smoke.
@revolutionarycarrie
You want to know how smoking became such a huge habit...and consumerism (the deathstyle to end any hope of lifestyle) got started. Head on over to http://freedocumentaries.org/index.php and watch Century of Self (Parts 1 - 4) that clearly demonstrates how people were manipulated into consuming their own death.
Eddie Bernays - rot his soul - is the man who helped make that happen and could be touted as the Father of the Consumerist Deathstyle and Profit-at-any-Cost Doctrine of Capitalism.
So marketing is a huge part of it. Another key component part is having an economic slavery in place that drives people to need something to ease the pain of a buttoned-down, nailed-down life that serves a privileged few, while persecuting so many that it's just unbelievable.
The Land of the Fee [sic] is the extreme example of consumerism. It's primary business is death. Death through consumption of toxins in food, drugs, alcohol, chemicals, agribusiness, bullets and bombs. And marketing is what drives it all and Bernays pioneered the techniques of manipulation to the point that now even the way you are presented goods in a store is designed to influence your every purchase. Watch 'The Coporation' to see how marketing execs promote to kids to get them to drive parents crazy with purchasing pressure. Watch "The Merchants of Cool' at Free Documentaries.org (link above) to see how teens are trapped into life-long habitual buying patterns by exposure to art & entertainment.
There are studies which show that 70% of popular music today contains product placement phrases!
The interlocking nature of corporations is an enemy of freedom. The Corporate model of today has outlived its usefulness.
Parecon (Participatory Economics) looks rather interesting and certainly appears to be a better alternative, though I'm still considering it. But capitalists have done a huge number on killing any such initiative to protect the system that they call "trickle down" but should really be called "torrent up". Henry George also developed an alternative system and at one point was the second most influential person in the USA, but then they marginalized him too, and most importantly his very sound ideas and astute observations along with him. The Borg is not some fantasy sci-fi concept. The Borg are with us today, they assimilate everything that is antipathetic to their notion of who they are, an Elite.
Tobacco-mongers think they did the dead a favor. That's five million a year who won't have to face starvation or the consequences of climate change. A grateful world exhales.
Phillip Morris, Marlboro, Winston, ...?
I prefered 'American Spirit', but don't tell this to the 'big boys', for they'll hone in on trying to take over or corrupt AS. North American Indians or indigenous peoples have been consuming tobacco, sometimes peyote, ... for ages, and with NO problem. Cubans are said to generally smoke and live average ages of 90+.
It's the damn chemicals, stupid!
And given how hellbent this world is ruled, who cares about the chemical poisons anyway? Only [selfish] people would; well, along with people who really do care, but who also have no means of making this count.
Joan of Arc was not about fantasy.