U.S. Rep. Connolly, Inova Health System Physicians, Public Health Groups Call for Congressional Action to Protect Kids fr...(ears the nation's two largest tobacco co...),Health

• In October 2008, Philip Morris USA announced a makeover of its Virginia Slims brand into "purse packs" - small, rectangular cigarette packs that contain "superslim" cigarettes. Available in mauve and teal and half the size of regular cigarette packs, the sleek "purse packs" resemble packages of cosmetics and fit easily in small purses. They come in "superslims Lights" and "superslims Ultra Lights" versions, continuing the tobacco industry's history of associating smoking with weight control and of appealing to women's health concerns with misleading claims such as "light" and "low-tar."
• In January 2007, R.J. Reynolds launched a new version of its Camel cigarettes, called Camel No. 9, packaged in shiny black boxes with hot pink and teal borders. The name evoked famous Chanel perfumes, and magazine advertising featured flowery imagery and vintage fashion. The ads carried slogans including "Light and luscious" and "Now available in stiletto," the latter for a thin version of the cigarette pitched to "the most fashion forward woman." Ads ran in magazines popular with women and girls, including Vogue, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and In Style. Promotional giveaways included flavored lip balm, cell phone jewelry, tiny purses and wristbands, all in hot pink.

These new marketing campaigns are the latest chapter in the tobacco industry's long history of targeting women and girls, which has had a devastating impact on women's health. The nation's latest cancer statistics, released in December 2008, showed that while lung cancer death rates are decreasing for men - and overall cancer death rates are decreasing for both men and women -
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