RICHMOND, Va., Jun 24, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Philip Morris USA, the largest
U.S. cigarette maker, has pulled another cigarette brand it claimed was safer
from production, the company said.
The Marlboro Ultra Smooth with high-tech filters failed to catch consumer
interest, "presumably because they didn't think the taste and flavor was
acceptable," said Brendan McCormick, a spokesman for Altria Group Inc., which
owns Philip Morris.
The Wall Street Journal Tuesday reported Philip Morris sales declined by 4.6
percent in 2007, below the average industry drop of 4 percent -- although the
company says sales declined 3.6 percent.
Having shed its international operations the tobacco giant has focused on
developing a reduced-risk brand to increase domestic sales, the Journal said.
So far, success marketing reduced-risk cigarettes has been elusive. The company
spent nearly 10 years developing the Accord, a battery-operated cigarette holder
that would heat, rather than burn, tobacco, the Journal said.
Both the Accord and a smokeless product, Taboka Tobaccopaks, were pulled from
the market, the Journal reported.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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