Rumor has it... Those three words may be the bane of any corporation’s existence, let alone a tobacco company. And Philip Morris hasn’t escaped the rumor mill this time. Industry sources have told Communicate that a global rebranding of Marlboro cigarette packs went all sorts of wrong in Saudi Arabia.
 
A slight redesign – which, depending on who you ask, involved the scrapping of the cigarettes’ blue seal-like strip, a change in the country of origin, or just a tweak in the look and feel of the pack – sent sales spiraling in the Kingdom. Why? Smokers thought the newly-redesigned packs contained counterfeit cigarettes.
 
Rumor has it that people who bought the new Marlboro packs and began believing they were fake started to fall “ill,” with complaints of sore throats and similar ailments.
 
And what does Philip Morris have to say of all these rumors? “I can assure you, it’s been business as usual,” says a spokeswoman. “There has been a global rebranding earlier this year, but our marketing department in Saudi also confirmed it was all OK.”
 
Our sources also tell us that Malboro’s sales have recovered since the hiccup.