At less than four inches high, it is hard to find a more recognisable fashion accessory. From Kate Moss to Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, Rhys Ifans to Denis Leary, the white and gold box of white sticks has been a constant companion.
No more. Marlboro Lights, along with all other cigarettes claiming to be 'mild', 'light' or 'low tar', are to be banned from sale under the 'lights' banner next month under new laws from the European Union.
It is another blow to Britain's 11 million smokers who have recently faced calls for a total ban on smoking in public places from the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson. Pizza Hut plans to prevent smoking in all its restaurants, and Brighton's council is considering outlawing smoking in the city's pubs and clubs.
Philip Morris International, maker of Marlboro, confirmed to The Observer that it is to stop producing Marlboro Lights, smoke of choice for supermodels and the younger generation of Hollywood stars. It will simply run with the name Marlboro for all its cigarettes. Launched in 1986, Marlboro Lights now outsell the Marlboro red by five to one and account for nearly 6 per cent of the British market. They are so sought-after that Customs officers estimate that up to half the boxes of Marlboro Lights it seizes from smugglers may be fakes.
The gold and red colours of the boxes will be the only hint to smokers of the different nicotine and tar content. Other makes will replace 'light' with 'blue' or 'refined'. Health campaigners welcomed the move, saying cigarette companies have been allowed for too long to get away with using the term light, suggesting they are 'better for you' than other cigarettes. 'There has been a confusion that these cigarettes are somehow less dangerous,' said Deborah Arnott, director of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash). 'That is simply not true. We need to ensure this message gets through to people - just getting rid of the name "lights" is not enough.'
Arnott said research revealed that, although machines used to test cigarettes drew less tar and nicotine from low-tar brands, real smokers tended not to. They would either smoke more or inhale more deeply to get the same effect.
Marc Fritsch, spokesman for Philip Morris, said: 'We have started production of the new packs already. There never has been such a thing as a safe cigarette. People should not assume that a term light, mild or low [means] they are safer for them.'
Cancer Research UK will launch an advertising campaign this autumn, backed by government funding, to publicise the changes, the latest in a line of health restrictions on smoking. Earlier this year, under EU regulation, cigarette companies were forced to put large health warnings on packets with messages such as 'smoking when pregnant harms your baby' and 'smoking can cause a slow and painful death'.
The Government is now considering introducing graphic photographs on packs to underline the health message. By the end of the year the EU will produce a set of agreed images which governments will be encouraged to use.
EU officials said the use of the images in Canada and Brazil had reduced the number of smokers. 'Test reports give clear indications that increased health warnings encourage people to stop smoking or never take it up,' said Thorsten Muench, health spokesman for the European Commission.
Health campaigners have tried to work against the glamorous image of smoking, particularly since the rise of the supermodel who would regularly be seen with a cigarette in hand. Kate Moss is often seen with her partner, magazine publisher Jefferson Hack, smoking Marlboro Lights.
Other smokers or former smokers of the brand include Britney Spears, Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews, author J.K. Rowling and Warren Clarke, the steely-eyed actor from Dalziel and Pascoe.
Philip Morris said that it would not challenge the ban, hoping that people would still recognise the brand by its colour.
The threat of legal action against tobacco giants - thought to have died off in the late 1990s following the collapse of a high-profile test case involving 52 chronically ill smokers - has re-emerged. It comes after the GMB union secured £50,000 in an out-of-court settlement for a London-based casino worker whose health had deteriorated as a result of working in a smoky environment. The GMB has three similar cases on its books.
An even more alarming legal threat to the tobacco lobby is emerging in Scotland. The widow of a 60-a-day smoker, Alfred McTear, is to have her husband's day in court in October in what promises to be a landmark case. No legal action against a tobacco company has ever made it all the way to a British court, and the case is being studied closely by other compensation lawyers.
The mounting litigation threat is one reason why Pizza Hut is to ban smoking in all its 350 franchises. The company said it was taking the action chiefly to prevent staff and customers being exposed to 'passive smoking'.
The anti-smoking lobby believes that Pizza Hut is merely ahead of the curve. 'There will be a ban [on smoking in restaurants] - it's just a question of time,' said Amanda Sandford, spokeswoman for Ash.
Several cities, including Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle, are competing to become the first to outlaw smoking in public places. Brighton councillors are considering imposing a £60 fine on anyone smoking in a public place. In Ireland, the Government is preparing to ban smoking in pubs from next year. Australia, the Netherlands, Kashmir, Sweden, Thailand, Romania and Italy have already passed legislation restricting smoking.
There are signs Britain may follow suit. Donaldson has produced research conducted among non-smoking bar staff in London pubs which found nicotine levels three to four times greater than average. His conclusion was simple: smoking should be banned in public places.
The Government has yet to respond, but a series of incremental changes have given the tobacco firms cause for concern and the anti-smoking lobby grounds for hope. A comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising earlier this year was followed by a ban on smoking in some government departments, including the Department of Health. Ash plans to sponsor a Private Member's Bill later this year to call for a blanket ban. Further restrictions could create a catastrophic scenario for the tobacco lobby which has seen the decline in UK smokers plateau out in recent years. In 1974, 45 per cent of the population smoked. By 1994 this had fallen to 27 per cent, where it has stayed ever since.
Crucial to the tobacco lobby's case was a need to get the hospitality industry on side by encouraging it to promote well-ventilated no-smoking areas in a bid to prevent governments introducing national bans. A secret Philip Morris report from 1993 states: 'The hospitality industry is our greatest ally ... [it] is critical to our ultimate objective, which is to maintain the ability of consumers to enjoy our products in public venues such as restaurants, hotels, bowling centres and shopping malls.'
Numerous reports were commissioned, showing that smoking bans would hit jobs in the hospitality industry. But a 2001 Office for National Statistics survey found 87 per cent of the public - and 71 per cent of smokers - favouring restrictions on smoking in public places.
· Additional reporting by Tom Reilly
