TY - JOUR T1 - ‘Stop me before I kill again’: why Philip Morris International needs governments’ help to quit smoking, and why governments need more pressure to do so JF - Tobacco Control JO - Tob Control SP - 121 LP - 122 DO - 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054294 VL - 27 IS - 2 AU - Ruth E Malone Y1 - 2018/03/01 UR - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/27/2/121.abstract N2 - As reported elsewhere in this issue and in numerous media outlets, Philip Morris International (PMI) recently published advertisements in several UK newspapers claiming its New Year’s Resolution was ‘We’re trying to give up cigarettes’.1 Numerous observers noted that there was no specific plan or date attached to this goal, the company continues aggressively promoting cigarettes in low-income and middle-income countries, and previous similar makeover efforts undertaken by the company have been a smokescreen. Lending credence to sceptics’ responses, the company is currently ‘upgrading’ a UK version of its top-selling Marlboro cigarettes at the same time.2 The company has long been urged to just stop promoting and/or selling cigarettes. For many years, public health advocates have attended shareholder meetings and called on the company to stop. The most recent call, however, came in an open letter to the company endorsed by more than 100 organisations from around the world.3 4 Such efforts are typically met with the company’s earnest explanation that even if they did, other companies would step into the breach, so obviously there is no point in doing so.And in one sense, that is completely true. The fact is that PMI can’t just stop: its shareholders are too addicted to the profits generated … ER -