Makers of leading cigarette brand Marlboro- Philip Morris have taken out full-page ads in newspapers in the UK saying that their ‘New Year’s resolution’ is to “give up cigarettes”.
“It won’t be easy. But we are determined to turn our vision into a reality,” the ad says.
The ad goes on to state, “There are 7.5 million adults in the UK who smoke. The best action they can take is to quit smoking. Many will succeed. But many will continue to smoke. That’s why we want to replace cigarettes with products … which are a better choice for the millions of men and women in the UK who would otherwise not stop smoking.”
The official website of Philip Morris also endorses the view as in a manifesto titled ‘Designing a Smoke-Free Future’, the tobacco major charts out its roadmap on exiting the cigarette business and focusing on “less harmful, yet satisfying, alternatives to smoking”. The website also lists their e-cigarette products and claims that more than 3.7 million smokers have switched to these products.
However vaping, as the practice of using e-cigarettes is commonly known as, brings with it, its own share of concerns as various studies in the recent past have suggested that it is as harmful as smoking a cigarette.
In August, a report suggested that the health ministry is considering banning e-cigarettes following an expert committee’s conclusion that they have cancer-causing properties, are highly addictive, and do not offer a safer alternative to tobacco based smoking products.
The company said they would get back with a response. However, they did not come back with a statement. The story will be updated as and when we receive any word from the company.
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