P. M. BRIEFING : Gorbachev Cigarette Marketed With ‘Taste of Freedom’ Slogan
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GENEVA — A Swiss company launched a cigarette named for Mikhail S. Gorbachev today, figuring that the popular Kremlin leader might be just the guy to knock the Marlboro man off his horse.
The company plans to invade the U.S. market next with the cigarette, which it calls “Gorbatchow,” enticing smokers with its slogan, “A Taste of Freedom.”
The medium-strength cigarette is a blend of 21 types of tobacco--some Soviet, some American.
The World Health Organization was less than enthusiastic about the launching of the new brand. The U.N. agency estimates that nearly 3 million people will die this year from tobacco-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.
Gorbachev has never been seen smoking in public, although he reportedly once took a puff in Canada. Cigarette use is widespread in the Soviet Union, which has only a mild anti-smoking campaign.
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