Nicola Roxon with a packet of the cigarettes. Picture: Jake Nowakowski Source: Herald Sun
- Australian icon used to sell smokes in Europe
- Branded as "An Australian Favourite" in France
- Dubbed the "cancer kangaroo" by activist
ONE of Australia's most treasured national icons is being used to flog cigarettes in Europe.
An image of a kangaroo and the phrase "An Australian Favourite" are on packets of Winfield being sold in France, the Herald Sun reported.
The branding of the cigarettes, made by British American Tobacco, has angered health groups and the Federal Government.
One anti-smoking advocate dubbed the image the "cancer kangaroo".
The branding furore comes as the global tobacco giant prepares a legal battle against the Gillard Government's plain packaging laws in Australia.
The cigarettes were spotted on sale by consular officials in the European Parliament shop in Strasbourg.
The Government said BAT's "sneaky" branding showed why plain packaging was needed.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, who as Health Minister led the charge to scrap branding on tobacco products, said the kangaroo packets were "outrageous".
"Before we know it, we'll see Sydney Ciggies or Melbourne Menthols," she said.
"This kind of weaselly marketing tactic will soon have no place here in Australia when all cigarettes will be in plain packaging from December."
The Government is facing legal challenges to the new law, which advocates say would make tobacco less attractive to young people and cut smoking rates.
Critics argue private companies should be allowed to market their brands under international trademark law.
In April, British American Tobacco Australia and three international companies will go to the High Court to argue the laws are unconstitutional.
A BATA spokesman said he couldn't comment on packets sold with kangaroo symbols because they were marketed by a different arm of the global company.
The spokesman said the Winfield brand was also a subject of High Court proceedings so would not discuss the issue.
He also hit out at Ms Roxon for having "not respected the same High Court protocol".
But Quit executive director Fiona Sharkie said the "cancer kangaroo" used by BAT in Europe should be culled.
"BAT are really capitalising on the reputation that Australia has internationally as being outdoors with blue skies and healthy lifestyles - saying 'You can be like this'," Ms Sharkie said.
"There's nothing glamorous about smoking. One out of every two long-term smokers will die from a smoking-related illness."
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