Cigarette Campaigns draw flak from a 7Days Reader

Recently, L&M and Emerald Royal cigarettes had splashed full page ad campaigns in 7Days, Khaleej Times and Gulf News etc. Direct advertising of cigarettes and liquor is banned in some countries (eg. India), so I was surprised to see these ads in the press here. But if you notice, the ads below don't potray the act of smoking. Is it deliberate?

L&M, 7Days, 10Sep06



Emerald GN, 9Sep06

Emerald KT, 7Sep06

The reader's comment and the Editor's response in 7Days -

7DAYS should stop printing tobacco ads

It seems that 7DAYS is having financial problems that make it necessary to promote smoking. What well done and creative Full Page Ads, each displaying and targeting different ages, the L&M targets the teenagers as being cool, to help make their life’s journey better. The Emerald Royal on the other hand appeals the rich and sophisticated.

Editor: We’ll stop printing tobacco ads when they are declared illegal. If we ban advertising just because a section of the community objects to the (legal) activity they advertise, where do we stop?