When in November last year Philip Morris International committed itself to “designing a smoke-free future”, it attracted headlines around the world. Not surprisingly. After all, here was the maker of Marlboro cigarettes and one of the key members of the Big Tobacco club accepting that its future lay in “products that are a much better choice than cigarette-smoking”.
Despite some inevitable scepticism from anti-smoking campaigners, the company’s statements appeared to leave little room for misinterpretation. “Our vision — for all of us at PMI — is that these products will one day replace cigarettes,” it declared. Last month, it backed up its promise by pledging up to $1 billion over the next 12 years to a foundation that will fund research designed to stub out