An excellent example of international cooperation....

During a recent visit to Kiev to Konstantin Krasovsky and Tatjana Andreeva, they pointed out to me a huge billboard with an advertisement for L&M, cigarettes, a Philip Morris brand. The fotograph showed a couple, with the man's hands protectively on the woman's pregnant belly. Back in Holland I contacted the Dutch office of Philip Morris asking them whether I was correct in assuming that Philip Morris encourages smoking during pregnancy. They were taken completely unawares by this question and contacted Lausanne headquarters inmediately. There they decided to remove all advertisements with fotographs that could even remotely be mistaken for pictures of pregnant women.

In the meantime Konstantin Kraskovsky emailed us a digital photograph of the billboard which was then sent on to a major Dutch newspaper. They wrote an article about it, (the internet link to which is given below for those of you who read Dutch), saying P.M. had to retract a campaign under pressure from the director of the tobaccocontrol organisation in Holland. It also stated that the socalled and self proclaimed responsibility of PM clearly ends at the borders of the EU. Radiostations picked up on it and incorporated it in their newsbullettins.

For the article and photo see: http://www.trouw.nl/artikelverdieping/1012802265493.html

-- Trudy Prins, The Netherlands (Globalink)