Latest news with #cigarettes
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Smoke signals: from Charli xcx's nuptials to The Bear, cigarettes are everywhere
Coffee and chocolates traditionally signal the end of a meal at a wedding. But now many couples are ditching the sweet stuff and doling out cigarettes instead. Bowls and trays piled high with fags have become the new party favour. Last weekend, guests at Charli xcx's nuptials were served Vogue Essence Bleue slim cigarettes from silver trays, and social media is peppered with wedding receptions featuring tiered dessert stands laden with smoking paraphernalia and dedicated 'smoking stations'. It can be an expensive addition to any wedding bill, considering the average cost for a packet of 20 cigarettes is now £14. Many modern brides take their inspiration from Mary-Kate Olsen, the child star turned fashion designer for The Row. In 2015, Olsen doled out mini bowls of cigarettes during her wedding to her now ex-husband Olivier Sarkozy. Emma Westblade, the editor-in-chief of the wedding planning directory the Wed, described the trend as 'a soft rebellion against the polished perfection long associated with weddings, in favour of something more unfiltered and deliberately nostalgic'. She added: 'It's controversial, yes, but it's part of a larger return to vice-coded aesthetics, plucked from the noughties and revived by gen Z for today's weddings.' At the online marketplace 1st Dibs, sales of items with cigarette, lighter, tobacco and cigar in the item title are up 11% this year compared with 2024. Trending items include 1930s cigarette dispensers, art deco cases and porcelain Hermès ashtrays from the 1980s. Getting a nicotine fix is also trending at fashion parties. In September, guests at a party in Paris for Kylie Jenner's clothing brand Khy were greeted by waiters holding silver platters of slim cigarettes and branded matches. At an event to celebrate her collaboration with the denim brand Madewell, Alexa Chung served guests ice cold martinis next to bowls of Camel Blues. And in November, at the launch of Lili Anolik's book Didion & Babitz at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, cigarettes and lighters branded with the book's title were placed on tables. Last month, the sale of single-use vapes in England was banned. Perhaps traditional cigarettes never really went away, but they now seem to be having a resurgence. In March, research found that smoking rates in parts of England had increased for the first time since 2006. This is despite the fact that smoking is widely known to increase the risk of cancer and 94% of UK adults recognise this. The trend is also reflected in pop culture. Singers Lorde and Addison Rae both mention smoking in their recent singles, and Sabrina Carpenter uses a fork as a cigarette holder in the video for her new song, Manchild. In June, just before France's new smoking ban, Beyoncé lit up a cigarette on stage in Paris during her Cowboy Carter tour. Charli xcx was photographed smoking outside her wedding reception, while Dua Lipa and Paul Mescal are regularly spotted with a fag in hand. On screen, Seema (Sarita Choudhury) smokes everywhere in And Just Like That, including in her bed. Dakota Johnson's character, Lucy, is rarely without a cigarette in her new film The Materialists, and in the latest series of The Bear, even anti-smoker Sydney attempts to light up. Jared Oviatt who runs the Instagram account Cigfluencers described cigarettes as 'kind of like blue jeans. They've survived every trend cycle you can imagine.' Citing generational factors as playing a role in smoking's revival, Oviatt added: 'The dream of stability, owning a home, financial security feels increasingly out of reach. So the question becomes: why not do what you want? Why not smoke? Nothing matters!'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Philip Morris's revenue misses estimates as cigarette volumes drop
(Reuters) -Philip Morris International (PMI), which makes Marlboro cigarettes, reported second-quarter revenue on Tuesday that fell short of analysts' estimates as cigarette sales volumes slipped. The company's shares dropped about 5% in premarket trading. While PMI has been faster than its peers to transition from traditional tobacco products to smoke-free alternatives, such as its flagship heated tobacco device IQOS and nicotine pouch brand ZYN, it is still grappling with sharp declines in tobacco use. Tobacco products, including cigarettes, are still the main engine of PMI's business, and besides competition from smoke-free products, regulatory headwinds and tough economic conditions have hit consumers' wallets. As a result, while PMI's total sales rose 7.1% to $10.14 billion in the latest quarter, it fell short of analysts average estimate of $10.33 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG. Shipment volumes in its cigarettes business declined 1.5%, while, in contrast, volumes in oral smoke-free products business rose 23.8%. PMI saw steady growth in inhalable alternative nicotine products, notably of IQOS, across Europe and Japan and cities such as Jakarta, Mexico and Seoul. Earlier this year, PMI began selling IQOS on a small scale in the United States, a move that ultimately is expected to help fuel its push to diversify revenue streams beyond cigarettes. In the fast-growing nicotine pouches market, PMI's ZYN is already a U.S. market leader. PMI, whose shift from cigarettes has been faster than rivals Altria and BATS, aims to generate half of its sales from smoking alternatives by the end of 2025. The company's second-quarter adjusted profit of $1.95 per share beat market estimates of $1.86 per share. It expects an adjusted profit of $7.43 to $7.56 per share for the year, compared with its prior forecast of $7.36 to $7.49. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Zawya
4 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt: Eastern Company sets new prices for cigarette products
Arab Finance: Eastern Company's board has approved new prices for its cigarette products, effective as of Friday, July 18, according to a statement. Under the updated price list, all 20-cigarette Cleopatra packs, including Cleopatra King Size, Cleopatra Box, Cleopatra Soft Queen, Cleopatra Black Label, Cleopatra Super, and Matossian Super, will now be sold for EGP 44. The price of both Boston and Belmont 20-cigarette packs has also been set at EGP 44. Meanwhile, Mondial red, blue, and silver packs, as well as Mondial Switch mint and blueberry packs, are all priced at EGP 44. This decision comes as per the provisions of the amended value-added tax (VAT) law no.177 of 2023 and the comprehensive medical insurance system law no.2 of 2018. © 2020-2023 Arab Finance For Information Technology. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
The Independent
18-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Mapped: The UK regions where smoking is most common after stark new figures released
The number of cigarettes smoked in Britain every year has been revealed in a shocking new study from Cancer Research UK and University College London (UCL). Smokers are getting through an estimated 28.6 billion cigarettes each year on average, equating to 78 million every day. The study draws on data from the Smoking Toolkit Study between 2022 and 2024. It estimates that adults who smoke consume an average of 10.4 cigarettes daily, with 5.5 per cent of smokers exceeding 20 cigarettes a day The figures are also broken down by region, showing which areas in the UK have the highest proportion of smokers, and which region has the highest average number of cigarettes smoked. The data shows that it is the South West that has the highest proportion of smokers at 15 per cent of the adult population. Meanwhile, Scotland and Yorkshire are joint-lowest at 13.3 per cent. Amongst all adults, the average is 13.9 per cent. However, smokers in southern regions smoke proportionally less cigarettes a year than those in the north and Scotland. Smokers in the North East average 598 cigarettes a year – the highest of any region – while London is the lowest at 423. The analysis finds that this points to significant inequalities in cigarette consumption, with individuals from more deprived backgrounds smoking an average of 11 cigarettes daily, compared to 9.4 per day among those in wealthier areas. In light of the figures, charities are calling on the government to speed up its upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill which is currently passing through Parliament. The legislation aims to create a 'smoke-free generation' by preventing the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, effectively raising the legal smoking age each year. Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy, Dr Ian Walker, said: 'While great strides have been made to bring down smoking rates, we can't afford to be complacent. Every week, around 550 million cigarettes are still smoked in Britain – that's enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool. It's vital that everyone, wherever they live, can access the support they need to quit smoking for good. 'The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is a historic opportunity to help stub out the harms of smoking, but it's frustrating that the legislation isn't progressing through Parliament as quickly as it should be. 'Tobacco is a toxic product that should have no place in our future, and I urge all parliamentarians to back a smoke-free UK and prioritise this Bill when it returns to the House of Lords. This world-leading legislation has strong political and public support that can't be ignored.'
The Independent
18-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
If you're from these UK areas, you're more likely to smoke
A new analysis estimates 28.6 billion cigarettes are smoked in Britain annually, highlighting stark inequalities in consumption across the country. The study, by Cancer Research UK and UCL, found people from more deprived backgrounds and regions like the North East and Scotland smoke more cigarettes daily. Despite overall declining smoking rates, England is projected to miss its 2030 smokefree target, potentially not achieving it until 2039. Charities are urging the Government to prioritise the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which aims to prevent anyone born after 1 January 2009 from legally smoking. Concerns are growing over the Bill's slow progress through Parliament, with billions of cigarettes smoked since its reintroduction in the Commons.
