New cigarette flavors leave bad taste

Published on June 6, 2008 3:05 AM

What's your poison? A little Grand Marnier? How about whisky? Or maybe you just like the gentle aroma of vanilla.

No matter. It's just a disguise anyway. It all comes down to the same thing: killer tobacco.

Alcohol and food flavours, as well as their often enticing aromas, are the new "technology," as one tobacco company advertises these additives, which are used to help flog cigarettes to an increasingly reluctant public.

Drown the tobacco taste in alcohol or hide the smell with vanilla. The idea's the same: Make tobacco more pleasant and you'll please smokers and non-smokers alike.

Not the anti-smoking lobby, however.

"We are asking the health minister immediately to ban these ads," said Louis Gauvin, spokesperson for the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control.

He claims the ads violate federal laws that ban tobacco ads geared to young people and forbid any message that attempts to make smoking glamorous or diminish its health risks.

The new liquor-flavoured cigarettes are the products of JTI Macdonald Corp., which is part of Japan Tobacco Inc.

JTI Macdonald, which is in bankruptcy proceedings after a $1.36-billion Quebec tax assessment in 2004 claiming the company aided and abetted smuggling, has recently targeted the predominantly young readership of alternative newspapers like Hour, the Mirror, Ici and Voir.

In full-page ads, JTI extols the alcohol-like benefits of the newest addition to its More brand. One ad introduces "A new member of the more international family, subtly aromatized with whisky flavouring."

Another trumpets the kindlier second-hand smoke offered by Mirage: "First in Canada with unique Less Smoke Smell (LSS) Technology." Mirage's cigarette paper is coated in vanilla.

"If I was a smoker, my reaction might be that this is less harmful second-hand smoke to my friends," Gauvin said. "They will smell vanilla and it will be more agreeable. This is trickery."

Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard was unavailable for comment. JTI's Toronto head office is closed until the new year.