A new cigarette brand launches tonight, just weeks before New York City's new smoking ban begins May 1.
Freedom Tobacco, New York City, unveils Legal "microbrewed" cigarettes with a posh party and plans for four-to-six weeks of guerilla marketing, primarily in age-restricted venues via Interference, Inc., New York City.
Freedom CEO Patrick Carroll is a Brown & Williamson veteran who eschews "Big Tobacco" tactics including mass media and "light"
or "all natural" labeling. "We will not participate in any misleading marketing practices. ... We do this because Smoking Kills," says Legal's Web site.
The brand has limited retail distribution for its Columbia-tobacco cigarettes, but sells them online at itslegal.net. Line extensions with South African and Indonesia are due later this year.
