Will Philip Morris Beat Earnings Estimates?

Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) is set to report 2Q13 results on Jul 18, 2013, before the opening bell. Last quarter it posted a 4.4% negative surprise. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to Consider This Quarter
We are primarily concerned about Philip Morris’ declining shipment volume as the tobacco industry is facing pressure due to stricter anti-smoking campaigns, higher excise tax and gasoline prices. Governments across the world are imposing higher taxes, forcing companies to increase prices. These tax increases are forcing the company to raise prices of both their premium as well as low priced products.Philip Morris International is the producer of Bond cigarettes and Cheapest Chesterfield cigarettes.

Proposed NJ smoking ban would extend to beaches, parks

The list of outdoor places where smokers would be permitted to light up would shrink significantly if a pair of bills introduced by two state legislators become law.
Smoking is already banned at all Burlington County parks and recreation areas as well as those in at least seven county municipalities. Under the two bills written by 8th District Republicans Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego and Assemblyman Chris Brown, smoking would also be banned in all state parks, beaches and wildlife management areas, and “any property acquired or developed with the help of state funds for recreation and conservation purposes.”
The latter provision effectively would make smoking off-limits in nearly all municipal parks and recreational fields because most have received funds through the state’s Green Acres program.
“As a mother, I am troubled by anything that threatens the health of our children,” Addiego said in a statement. “Parents should be able to drop down a beach blanket without worrying about being downwind from smokers and exposing their family to secondhand smoke.”
Brown also cited health concerns.
“The data is definitive. Smoke is detrimental to health, and even indirect exposure to cigarette smoke is harmful,” the assemblyman said. “It is especially dangerous for young lungs.”
Karen Blumenfeld, executive director of Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy (GASP), said that the idea of banning smoking at state parks and beaches is not new, but that support has grown steadily in recent years as more and more towns and counties have approved restrictions.
“More than 190 towns and counties combined in the state of New Jersey have enacted ordinances. That’s about one third of all counties and towns,” Blumenfeld said Friday. “There’s a grass-roots effort by local and county officials especially.”
The Burlington County Board of Freeholders recently enacted a policy banning smoking in all county parks. Beverly, Burlington Township, Delran, Edgewater Park, Evesham, Mansfield and Palmyra also have local ordinances banning tobacco use at their parks and ballfields.
Mount Holly has proposed making all of its playgrounds and parks smoke-free, but has yet to finalize the ban.
In addition to the dangers posed by secondhand smoke, Blumenfeld said banning smoking in parks and recreational areas discourages children from taking up the habit, helps smokers quit, prevents wildfires, and saves towns money on the cost of cleaning up cigarette-butt litter.
The measures sponsored by Addiego and Brown would provide some much-needed uniformity across the state, Blumenfeld said.
“There’s plenty of places without the bans. From our standpoint, it’s best to provide equal protection to all residents and visitors,” she said. “Since there’s no safe level of secondhand smoke, it’s best to educate people about the dangers of exposure, and these types of policies do that.”
Representatives from the Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment could not be reached for comment Friday. The group’s founder told the Burlington County Times in March that claims about the dangers posed by secondhand smoke in outdoor environments are dubious.
“While harm from another’s cigarette smoke indoors remains debatable, there is zero valid scientific evidence that someone smoking outdoors is harmful to anyone,” said Audrey Silk, founder of the nonprofit organization based in New York City. “They cherry-pick from the only study they have to point to and ultimately fail to report the author’s final conclusion: When the cigarette goes out, the smoke is gone — not like in a bar, where it hangs around for hours.”

Cigarettes were always about being a rebel-Marlboro Man

It’s one of branding’s eternal truisms that when you find an idea that works, you stick with it. It’s why fatherly CEO Dave Thomas appeared in over 800 TV spots for Wendy’s, why Aflac has stuck with the duck since 1999 and why Go Daddy has held tight to Danica Patrick’s bumper for 11 Super Bowl spots now. There’s a corollary to this rule, too. Once one brand discards a great idea, there’s nothing stopping a similar brand from taking it up. Case in point: the Marlboro Man and what looks like his kid brother in the ads here. But be it a tobacco smoke from the ‘50s or one of the many electronic alternatives on the market now, cigarette brands love associating themselves with the All-American bruiser.

“Cigarettes were always about being a rebel,” observes Gwenaëlle Gobé, creative director of marketing think tank Emotional Branding and a filmmaker who recently explored gender representations on American billboards in her film This Space Available. “The imagery connects because it’s an ideal,” Gobé said. “Who doesn’t want to be some version of the tough guy? This is what everybody demands men to be.”



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This rugged but successful marriage between tough guys and cigs goes back to 1954 when Philip Morris introduced Marlboro as its first brand to feature a filter. Fearful that the foam tip would make the brand seem soft and feminine, the company hired legendary adman Leo Burnett, who understood that making Marlboro a real man’s smoke meant showing real men. While most people recall the Marlboro Man as a cowboy, he was actually a variety of characters for the first few years: mechanics, hunters and, like our hairy-chested friend here, a coach (ex-Navy at that, judging from the tattoo on his right hand). The hitch worked. By 1972, Marlboro was the best-selling cigarette brand on the planet.

Of course, all the muscles in the world weren’t enough to fight off the attorneys general in most every state in America. The $206 billion Master Settlement of 1999 sent the Marlboro Man riding off into the sunset. But good ideas are tough to kill—as this 2013 ad for Blu e-cigarettes demonstrates. “My intuition is that Blu purposely went to the Marlboro Man to give this ad the same look,” Gobé said. Even if the brand didn’t do that literally, the similarities are striking. Chances are you wouldn’t pick a fight with either of these dudes.
It’s anyone’s guess if the tough-guy image will work as well for Blu as it did for Marlboro. Blu is a battery-driven vapor generator that comes in flavors including Cherry Crush and Vivid Vanilla—facts that are a little tough to reconcile with the Brando-esque aura of our denim-clad stag here. Still, there’s no denying the logic of the presentation. “If you walked up to anyone who’s lived long enough, they can immediately conjure the Marlboro Man’s image and describe it to you,” Gobé said. “That icon is endless.”