PMI Takes Smoke-Free Call To Creative Communities Truly Global At Middle East And Africa’s Premier G

Philip Morris International Inc. (“PMI”) (NYSE: PM) is taking its call to the creative, media and communications communities to go smoke-free to the Middle East and Africa. We started our push at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, where we asked creative agencies to join PMI in making the world smoke-free. We are continuing our efforts to find partners with a presence at the Middle East and Africa’s biggest gathering of creative agencies, the Loeries Creative Week.
 

Our lounge at the event is an interactive educational area raising awareness on the role that science, innovation, and technology can play for people who smoke, and informing on PMI’s efforts to replace cigarettes with less harmful alternatives.
 

To date, a number of agencies have signed up, including the first group in Africa, Publicis Groupe Africa. We are asking creative agencies from the Middle East and Africa to join their peers in going smoke-free. To help them understand our commitment, PMI will provide education on the fact that quitting tobacco and nicotine remains the best option for those who smoke, but that for those smokers who would continue, a range of smoke-free alternatives now exist.
 

Senior Vice President Global Communications Marian Salzman said, “There is a large opportunity in the Middle East and Africa to leverage innovation and science for those who smoke and the people around them. We’re asking the creative community based in the region and elsewhere to join us in raising awareness around this important initiative.”
 

Drago Azinovic, President of Middle East, Africa, and Duty Free, said, “Our vision for the world and for the Middle East and Africa is for all people who would otherwise continue to smoke to switch instead to less harmful alternatives. Joining forces with the creative community in the region can help make this important objective happen faster.”
 

Publicis Groupe Africa is the first agency in the region to support PMI’s global initiative. Its CEO John Dixon said: “We are proud to be the first agency network in Africa to undertake a commitment for a smoke-free future and are aligned with PMI’s bold ambition of a smoke-free world. Our 14 agencies across two regions will support the cause.”