NZ-branded Smokes A Deplorable Marketing Strategy

New Zealand-branded cigarettes a deplorable marketing strategy

The Hawke's Bay & Chatham Island Smokefree Coalition are supporting The Smokefree Coalition and Te Reo Marama (the Maori Smokefree Coalition) call for the immediate withdrawal of New Zealand-branded cigarettes from duty free outlets at airports throughout the country.

Hawke's Bay & Chatham Island Smokefree Coalition chairperson, Kimai Cure, says that despite the tobacco industry knowing about the links between smoking and lung cancer since the 1950s they continue to use exploitative marketing strategies such as this type of branding to promote their product.

"It is deplorable and the association is an affront to our national image" she said.

"Consumers should not undermine the powerful impact of branding. It is just one of the strategies that cigarette companies use to promote tobacco uptake and now they are using our symbols – black packaging, silver fern and the words New Zealand on the packaging."

"Cigarettes are highly addictive and highly carcinogenic and yet tobacco companies continue to be able to sell these products tax-free at duty free outlets. To prevent tobacco companies from exploiting this anomaly the Government needs to move towards removing tax-free status on a product that the CEO of the American Cancer Society refers to as "the greatest pandemic of preventable disease and premature disease in all recorded history." says Ms Cure.

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