09 May Philip Morris Apologizes to the Maori
One of the most exciting things about the University of Auckland Faculty of Law, my home in less than a month now, is that a significant percentage of its students and faculty are Maori. So I was very disturbed to come across this article, discussing Philip Morris’s recent apology to the Maori for selling “Maori Mix” cigarettes in Israel. As you can see, the cigarettes feature Maori designs on the front of the box; a map of New Zealand is printed on the back of the box.
Philip Morris’s apology, which the article says is unprecedented, came after two representatives from the Maori Smokefree Coalition confronted the company’s CEO at a shareholder meeting of its parent company, Altria:
Coalition director Shane Bradbrook… said the apology was a “win” for Maori.
“A lot of people came up to us afterwards and said they’d never seen the CEO apologise like that,” he said.
“The CEO said it was a mistake and they should never have done it; that they should have recognised that our culture was being used on that product, and that it was a mistake by their marketing people, and they would never do it again.”
Mr Bradbrook said he rebutted the claim the use of the images was a “mistake”.
“I said it wasn’t a mistake. Maori will accept the apology, but we can’t accept that it’s a mistake. They spend millions of dollars and they never make mistakes. It’s always on purpose.”
The offending cigarette designs were withdrawn last year, Mr Bradbrook said.
Mr Bradbrook said he opened his speech in Maori, which grabbed everybody’s attention, then he spoke of the misappropriation and exploitation of Maori culture.
“We went over there to put a face to our culture and I think we achieved that. They recognised we are a different and unique culture.”
Mr Bradbrook said using the term “Maori” on a product that effectively killed and caused illness was wrong.
[snip]
Mr Bradbrook said reaction to the apology at the shareholders meeting, which was for Philip Morris’ parent company Altria, was strong.
“People were quite stunned. A lot of people kept coming up to me to shake my hand and say they’ve never seen anything like that before.
“What we saw today was something quite different and dynamic around preserving people’s culture and I think that was really positive for us,” he said.
One can only wonder what Philip Morris was thinking. Even putting aside the cultural insensitivity question — smoking is the biggest killer of Maori, accounting for nearly one-third of all deaths per year — did the company really believe that Maori imagery would help sell cigarettes in Israel?
Historical side-note 1: During colonialism, European scholars often likened the Maori to Jews, because of their entrepreneurial qualities.
Historical side-note 2: Jews arrived very early in New Zealand. The first synagogue was established in Auckland in 1843. There are, however, only 3000 Jews in New Zealand today — though that number will increase by one when I move there!
Kevin,
If the following is true, the situation of the Maoris in New Zealand is comparable to that of African-Americans in the US today, at least with regard to criminal law:
“[A]lthough they represent 13% of the population over 14 years of age, Maori accounted for 40% of all arrests:
41% of all prosecuted cases
44% of all people convicted; and
50% of the prison population.
(found at CrimLaw blog and taken from the following link:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0605/S00216.htm)
Wishing you ‘sweetness and light’ and continued success at University of Auckland Faculty of Law,
Patrick