[Intl-tobacco] Philip Morris Apologizes to Maori

[robert weissman]

Two articles in this post:

1. stuff.co.nz: Tobacco giant apologises to Maori
2. Australian Broadcasting Company: Philip Morris apologises for using
Maori name and images to sell cigarettes

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/print/0,1478,3650902a10,00.html
Tobacco giant apologises to Maori

FRIDAY , 28 APRIL 2006


Tobacco giant Philip Morris has issued an unprecedented apology to Maori
during a shareholders meeting in the United States for using Maori
images on cigarette packets in Israel.

Two Maori Smokefree Coalition representatives confronted Philip Morris
in New Jersey early this morning (NZT) over what they say is abuse of
Maori culture.

The confrontation was in response to a New Zealander's discovery late
last year of cigarettes being sold in Israel branded "Maori Mix", with
packaging that included Maori designs.

Coalition director Shane Bradbrook and the organisation's youth advocate
Skye Kimura joined the international advocate group Global Partnerships
for Tobacco Control (Gptc) to raise issues of misappropriation of Maori
culture at the meeting of Philip Morris' parent company, Altria.

Mr Bradbrook said the apology was a "win" for Maori.

"A lot of people came up to us afterwards and said they'd never seen the
CEO apologise like that," he said.

"The CEO said it was a mistake and they should never have done it; that
they should have recognised that our culture was being used on that
product, and that it was a mistake by their marketing people, and they
would never do it again."

Mr Bradbrook said he rebutted the claim the use of the images was a
"mistake".

"I said it wasn't a mistake. Maori will accept the apology, but we can't
accept that it's a mistake. They spend millions of dollars and they
never make mistakes. It's always on purpose."

The offending cigarette designs were withdrawn last year, Mr Bradbrook said=
.

Mr Bradbrook said he opened his speech in Maori, which grabbed
everybody's attention, then he spoke of the misappropriation and
exploitation of Maori culture.

"We went over there to put a face to our culture and I think we achieved
that. They recognised we are a different and unique culture."

Mr Bradbrook said using the term "Maori" on a product that effectively
killed and caused illness was wrong.

"Really I didn't care about getting an apology, it was more about
fronting up to them," he said.

"It's a win for Maori and all the New Zealanders who have been
supporting us. It's a huge win."

Mr Bradbrook said reaction to the apology at the shareholders meeting,
which was for Philip Morris' parent company Altria, was strong.

"People were quite stunned. A lot of people kept coming up to me to
shake my hand and say they've never seen anything like that before.

"What we saw today was something quite different and dynamic around
preserving people's culture and I think that was really positive for
us," he said.

The discovery of the cigarette packets was made last year by a New
Zealander living in Israel.

She e-mailed Maori working in the Smokefree area, expressing concern
about Philip Morris aligning Maori with a tobacco product.

The woman returned to New Zealand in December with one of the cigarette
packets, called "Maori Mix".

It featured Maori designs and a map of New Zealand on the back of the
packet.

Smoking affects Maori more than any other group in New Zealand and is
the single biggest killer of Maori, accounting for a third of all deaths.

In the statement Mr Bradbrook read out to Altria shareholders and
management, he said he was there to represent Maori, whose culture had
been used to sell tobacco products.

"Let me tell you, this product called Maori Mix was an absolute affront
to my people.

"Your company's misappropriation and exploitation of our culture to sell
your product of death and illness to Israelis was at a minimum
culturally insensitive =96 and at worst another form of oppression and
abuse that indigenous peoples have faced for decades," he said.

"I stand before you to hold you in absolute contempt and derision. I
don't expect a weak apology or some glib rationale from you for
associating our culture with Maori Mix. But I do have a message for you:
do not misrepresent, do not associate our proud culture with your
deceitful practices and product."

Mr Bradbrook said if it looked like and smelled like exploitation, then
it was exploitation.

--

Philip Morris apologises for using Maori name and images to sell cigarettes

ABC (Australia)
The World Today - Friday, 28 April , 2006

Reporter: Peter Lewis

EDMOND ROY: The world's biggest tobacco company, Philip Morris, has
issued an unprecedented apology to New Zealand Maori for using their
name and image to sell a brand of cigarettes.

At its annual general meeting in New York, its Chief Executive, Louis
Camilleri, said it was a mistake for the company to have marketed and
sold the "Maori Mix" brand of cigarettes in Israel.

The Maori Smokefree Coalition claimed the marketing was culturally
offensive and exploitative.

New Zealand Correspondent Peter Lewis reports the company has now agreed
to withdraw those products from the market.

PETER LEWIS: Anti-tobacco groups in New Zealand argue smoking
disproportionately affects Maori more than any other group in the
population, accounting for as many as one in three deaths.

So when the Maori Smokefree Coalition discovered last year tobacco giant
Philip Morris was marketing one of its L and M brands in Israel as
"Maori Mix", Coalition Director Shane Bradbrook was fuming.

He'd been tipped off by a New Zealander living in Israel who'd noticed
the distinctive packets on sale, depicting Maori designs on the front
and a map of New Zealand on the back.

He then decided to front a shareholders' meeting of Philip Morris'
parent company, Altria, in New York overnight.

SHANE BRADBROOK: You know, I opened up with a traditional Maori
tauparapara and. you know, an opening saying, and that caught everyone
off-guard and from there on I just climbed on in, told them where we
were from and told them about their inappropriate use of our culture.

PETER LEWIS: There's nothing unusual about anti-tobacco protests at
gatherings like this, but what many observers found interesting this
time was that the New Zealanders had come to complain not only about the
public health implications of smoking but the world's biggest cigarette
manufacturer's cultural insensitivity as well.

SHANE BRADBROOK: Basically, it was an opportunity to front up with the
CEO and the Board of Directors of Philip Morris International. What I
said to them was that, in using the term Maori, that it was
misappropriation, exploitation of our culture and, you know, trying to
link our culture with their product in Israel.

And I said to them quite pointedly that minimum was that it was
culturally insensitive; and then on the other hand it was also a form of
oppression and abuse of indigenous people.

PETER LEWIS: The New Zealanders had waited their turn in the two and a
half hour meeting, as one by one anti-tobacco groups lined up to make
their point, one unfurling a banner that said "Give the World a Break";
another showing a skeleton wearing a Philip Morris hat.

Chairman and Chief Executive Louis Camilleri said that Altria realises
tobacco is a health hazard and is being responsible in its marketing.

And to that end he conceded the company had made a mistake with Maori
Mix and that it had been withdrawn from the Israeli market.

SHANE BRADBROOK: It wasn't actually a surprise to the CEO. He'd been
well briefed.

And he, once I'd finished my statement, he started talking about an
apology and that it, like you said, that it was a mistake and that it
would never happen again, and that our culture should never have been
used in that context.

And again he apologised. I think he apologised three times, which was
pretty unprecedented, according to people that go to that sort of
meeting, to hear him apologise.

And I think he also talked, and you talked about it a little bit there,
about a mistake.

I actually fronted him up straight away and said to him: "Look, you guys
actually don't make mistakes." I said, "You spend millions of dollars on
marketing and research. You never make mistakes." So I said, "I take
issue with that."

But I also said, "You know, we'll accept your apology on behalf of Maori
and take that home with us."

EDMOND ROY: Director of the Maori Smokefree Coalition, Shane Bradbrook,
ending that report by New Zealand Correspondent Peter Lewis.