January 13, 2012   The Australian government on Friday hit out at British American Tobacco for using images of kangaroos to sell its cigarettes in Europe, telling the company to “get your hands off our icons”. BAT, which is battling Canberra over moves towards plain packaging in Australia, is selling its Winfield brand overseas with a picture of a kangaroo on the front and a map of Australia on the back. It is also using the slogan “An Australian Favourite” and Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, the former health minister, is not amused.

“I think many Australians are going to be outraged that a big tobacco company all the way round the world is using Australia’s healthy lifestyle to market their deadly products,” she told reporters. “What I think it’s really showing is the sneaky levels that tobacco companies will go to to encourage people to buy their products.”

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