Camel cigarettes

Press kits arriving here last week carried a strongly worded media advisory.

"Have you heard about Big Tobacco's newest scheme to addict our children?" asked the introductory letter, which was supported by 11 high-visibility health groups.

"In recent months, several tobacco companies have introduced new sweet-flavored cigarettes, such as the enclosed flavored version of R.J. Reynolds' Camel cigarettes."

Can you imagine a citrus-flavored Camel? Just like candy?

Well, we can, because sure enough the press kit contained a bright orange tin box of Camel "Twists." In our newsroom we opened the tin, rolled the cigs in our fingers and sniffed the aroma of lime and tobacco.

Another press kit held an unopened box of strawberry flavored "Liquid Zoo," flavored cigarettes claiming to be an "exotic blend of strawberry flavored tobaccos for a sweet, fresh taste and aroma." They actually had an unappealing acrid odor, but the box was edgy, something a Baby Boomer might suspect would appeal to the Millennials (the group born after 1978). The packages brought home the message that parents should have their antennae at attention: If you see your teen packing a candy-looking box of cigs, don't believe for a minute that it contains harmless candy. And they'll get the attention of your teen. Most likely dozens of focus groups tested their appeal. The IR's newsroom doesn't have many smokers these days, but as with most groups, probably half of us have had our encounters in the past. Presently we still have a couple of closet smokers, one writer who chews nicotine gum until his lower jaw can hardly hold up his chin and a former smoker who turned to chew; now he can't shake that. And maybe we're wimps, but to be honest the smokes included in the press kit were tempting. Maybe too tempting. None of us started smoking again as we passed the attractive packages around, but the writer who chews noted he had finally quit smokeless tobacco several months ago when a similar package with three tins of smokeless arrived in the mail. He found the temptation too great, and he hasn't been able to stop since. So, we have two warnings. One to parents, as we noted earlier. Watch out. The health groups claim this marketing approach is meant to snare your teen, and we believe that. The second warning has to the well-intentioned folks at the various health organizations. The next time you send us a press kit, don't include the real stuff. A mere photo would get the message across. It would save you money (some five to seven bucks a box), and save us from the temptation. We're sure fighting temptation builds character, but we also know an idle mind is the tobacco industry's workshop. cigarette / tobacco online / cheap smokes / discount smokes / cigarettes for sale / cigaretts / cheap cigaretts / marlboro / discount cigaretts / marlboros / malboro / camel cigarettes / duty free cigarettes / tax free cigarettes / cheapest cigarettes / discount cigarettes / cheap cigarettes / internet cigarettes / winston cigarettes / parliament cigarettes / more cigarettes / pall mall cigarettes / kent cigarettes / cheap tobacco / buy cigarettes / online cigarettes / order cigarettes online / discount tobacco / davidoff cigarettes / cheap cigarette cartons / smoking cigarettes / wholesale cigarettes / smokeless cigarettes / dunhill cigarettes / dirt cheap cigarettes / russian cigarettes / pure tobacco cigarettes / discounted cigarettes / davidoff lights / marlboro lights / european made cigarettes / low cost cigarettes / purchase cigarettes online / cheap cigarettes from russia / premium cigarettes / cheep cigarettes / cigarettes shop / cigarettes smokes / cigarettes store / chep cigarettes