Setting the International Marlboro Man Free

Being a tobacco executive these days can't be easy. They operate in a market that's a veritable public relations minefield. The folks at Philip Morris dreamed up an entirely new name for their company with the hopes of attracting granola-eating, marathon running American investors to its stock.

Dump my Philip Morris shares. Buy Altria instead.

Today, the tobacco maker announced it plans to spin off its international tobacco business as part of a strategic restructuring to enhance shareholder value for Altria's investors.

Sounds smart, but selling the unit will no doubt require some delicate rhetoric. After all, the most compelling reason to buy the international Marlboro brand would have to be that there is a lot of opportunity to sell even more Marlboros around the world.

And where best to push cigarettes than in the bustling streets of the emerging markets? Look out, Asia, Africa, and South America! The Marlboro man is coming your way.

The media coverage of today's announcement should help Altria get its sales pitch memos for Philip Morris International ready. The move will create a new company "to blanket overseas markets aggressively with cigarettes and possibly other tobacco products," the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Associated Press highlights recent investments by Philip Morris International in countries like Pakistan, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic "to capture sales overseas." Just imagine the regulator-free advertising opportunities!

Philip Morris USA, meanwhile, is focused on fighting class action lawsuits, paying off settlement claims, and developing cool, new ways to ingest tobacco without smoke.

by Megan Barnett