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Kangaroo Cigarette Pack Swings at Australia’s Tobacco Laws

Posted by Mark J. Miller on January 31, 2012 11:01 AM

Australia is getting tough with tobacco companies. The government there recently voted to ban branded packaging for cigarettes and only allow them to be sold in plain packages that only contain graphic warnings against smoking.

Several tobacco companies have taken legal action against the law and now a different form of payback has emerged: British American Tobacco's Winfield brand cigarettes sold in France “feature a picture of a kangaroo on the front, with a map of Australia and the words ‘An Australian Favourite,’” according to the Telegraph. The health warning, "Fumer tue," translated to "Smoking Kills."

The Aussie packaging, of course, is not sitting well with Australia’s Health Minister, Nicola Roxon.

“Many Australians are going to be outraged that a big tobacco company all the way round the world is using Australia's healthy lifestyle to market their deadly products," she stated. "What I think it's really showing is the sneaky levels that tobacco companies will go to encourage people to buy their products."

The legal case against the Australian government is set to be heard in April.

The Australian Society for Kangaroo Lovers probably isn’t happy about it, either.

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