Memo to Big Tobacco: Don't Disrespect Swag! (And leave our girls alone!)

Dear Camel Execs:

Smokes and runway fashion often go hand-in-hand. We get that. And we understand you're a business, albeit one that kills people.

But the InStyle spin you've put on your latest branding and marketing push hits below the Hermes belt. I resent that you've shanghaied the swag bag to fill it up with Camel-branded stuff (stuff that I might add is not even cute -- case in point, a tragic record-shaped purse [see link below]). Most egregious, however, is the intended audience for your swag: young girls.

I'm not alone in my suspicion that you're enticing girls to smoke -- read this: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=79137

Because if you were serious about courting the of-age, fashion-forward female market, you'd ditch the pink-and-black/cellfone bling approach and go for something a bit more, well, refined -- perhaps a black-on-black color scheme or color-on-chocolate brown. And fill those swag bags with aromatic soy candles and Creme de La Mer.

Sincerely, Swagulous in the City