Maker of Marlboro says it wants to stop selling cigarettes

Mumbai: Tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI), the makers of Marlboro cigarettes, aims to stop selling cigarettes and replace them with alternatives such as e-cigarettes.

In a New Year's resolution, the company established in 1900 has said, "We’re trying to give up cigarettes", according to a report by USA Today.

PMI placed full-page advertisements in several newspapers in the United Kingdom stating that its new ambition in 2018 is to eventually stop selling cigarettes.

The Philip Morris ad says: “No cigarette company has done anything like this before. You might wonder if we really mean it.” 

There’s been a market trend away from traditional cigarettes to devices like e-cigarettes and those which slowly heat and roast, rather than burn, tobacco. And Philip Morris may simply be attempting to invest in that trend (while boasting of its public health benefit), reported Fortune. 

“We’re building PMI’s future on smoke-free products that are a much better choice than cigarette smoking. Indeed, our vision—for all of us at PMI – is that these products will one day replace cigarettes,” read the company’s new anti-cigarette announcement.

The company said the change in strategy was due to concern for people’s health.

The advisement added that it had spent British Pounds 2.5 billion in research and development.

Alongside the ad campaign, Philip Morris also created a new website called "Smoke-Free Future." It has information about quitting smoking and using other products.

The company is present in 180 countries outside the US through its wide range of largely tobacco products such as Marlboro, Benson & Hedges, Red and White, and Longbeach among many others.