Friday, December 19, 2008

For the Children

Last night Jia and I stopped in one the stationary/toy shops to see if we could find anything amusing that would make nice gifts for friends back home. I didn't find gifts, but I found something amusing for the kids.
This pack of candy cigarettes with its copyright infringement sells for 5 jiao (a few cents to you Americans). The photo isn't clear enough to see the bottom, but it says, "Good flavor every day." That's such a great message to give the kids when more than 300 million people in China smoke. Also, on the side of the pack is a government quality product seal (fake, of course). They also had some packs that were knock-offs of Chinese brands, like 888 cigarettes.

And no, I don't plan to try the sugar sticks that look like rancid cigarettes. I'm sure there's plenty of Melamine or other chemicals in these things.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is crazy! I've actually seen something like that in America, but it was sold as a gag gift for adults, not as a candy for children.

If the Chinese are serious about curbing the smoking rate in this country, the youth are the first place they need to begin.

ChangHuzi said...

Actually, we're looking at "ru yan kou xiang tang" here: it's not "Smoke Candy" at all, but gum--specifically "like-cigarette-gum."

Note too that the makers, "New Happy" (instead of Phillip Morris), have taken that extra step in setting up unrealistic expectations for trainee-smokers: 24 like-smoke chews to a pack, instead of the usual 20.