An Environmentally Friendly Cigarette? Are They Blowing Smoke Up Our….

Flipping through May’s issue of Toronto Life, I was rather surprised to be greeted with a full-page ad for du Maurier cigarettes.

But what held my attention was a marketing move so audacious that it was hard for a second to decide if it was demented genius or utter stupidity that inspired it.

The advertisement- which can be seen here via a piece in the Toronto Star - claimed that the brand had, in effect, gone green: “We have updated our packaging to reduce its impact on the environment,” the copy trumpets.

It then goes on to describe how the foil in the packaging had been replaced by paper “making it kinder to the environment.” Further, emphasis was placed on how the brand’s new cardboard packaging “meets standards supporting sustainable forest management.”

While that’s all well and good, didn’t any of the folks who signed off on this campaign see how ridiculous signing off on greenwashing a cigarette brand is?

I’m not against smoking or smokers – they have enough scorn to deal with, as well as an addiction that can be all-consuming – but I am really riled by the fact the company would consider the public so stupid that they would not see this as a blatant case of using a genuine concern about the environment in the name of making a few extra bucks.

I suppose it is admirable that the packaging is less harmful to the planet, it’s just a pity that the product itself still is.