A group of Maori anti-smoking campaigners is in New York to confront one of the world's biggest tobacco companies, Philip Morris, over its use of Maori imagery on cigarette packets.
Representatives of the Maori Smokefree Coalition, Te Reo Marama, will address the shareholder meeting of Phillip Morris's parent company, Altria.
Coalition director, Shane Bradbrook, says the Maori Mix cigarette brand was an insult to Maori and he wants Phillip Morris to agree never to market its products again this way.
The Maori Mix brand was withdrawn from sale last year.
The cigarettes were discovered in Jerusalem, Israel, by a New Zealander, who was so shocked she immediately reported her discovery to the Maori Smoke-Free Coalition.
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