Dr. Sabrina Segal

The Wall Street Journal says sweet-flavored cigarettes are "one of the hottest new product categories in the tobacco industry.”

New-fangled cigs such as Camel’s Exotic Blends and Kool’s Smooth Fusions target a new generation of smokers. They don’t have the harsh taste of old school smokes and are mild and satisfying. Anti-smoking activists don’t like these though, as they say these "candy flavored" cancer sticks are quite tempting to underage smokers.

But tobacco lobbyists say the move makes sense from a marketing perspective. How else would anyone propose luring new smokers into a habit affiliated so closely with heart disease and cancer? The marketing campaign for Camel Exotic Blends portrays sophistication and class, “an indulgence for special occasions," is one tagline and “smoking less-- smoking better” is another.

RJ Reynolds says that Exotic Blends is aimed at getting smokers of legal age to switch brands! "Instead of smoking two packs of mainstream cigarettes daily, we want them to only smoke a few of our cigarettes, but enjoy them more,” said one spokesman.

Flavors include:
•  Pineapple- and coconut-flavored Kauai Kolada
•  Lime-flavored Twista Lime
•  Back Alley Blend –a bourbon-flavored cigarette
•  Berry-flavored Bayou Blast
•  Midnight Madness-- a New Year's blend featuring the "bubbly flavor of New Year's spirits"


How do you feel about this marketing strategy from a consumer perspective? Will young people smoke whether cigarettes are flavored or not? Is it okay to portray cigarettes as classy and sophisticated? Is there an ethical dilemma here or is this just free enterprise? -- keeping in mind that the advertising industry more or less regulates itself. Is there a need for government interference here or would that be infringing on the manufacturer’s right to sell the product?

GRAPHIC: Portion of a scanned advertisement from 2004