Candy Smokes

I have a remarkable story to tell you. I spent the weekend in the Ravenswood's Projects in New York City. The free market has produced some disgusting products there.

I sat in a play ground working on a crossword puzzle, supervising a couple of eight year olds. The play ground is mostly like any other; screeching children chased each other, giggling toddlers squealed on swings, exposed knees scraped against asphalt. Two schools loomed in the background, feeding kids from Pre-K to the eighth grades to the park.

Six boys entered the park and slinked to a corner bench. They looked and sounded about twelve, there was no bass in their little voices as they cursed enough to make a policeman want to arrest. They each carried a tennis racket, prepared to play a wholesome game on the courts provides at the park. Four of them also carried funny looking cigarette packs. The boxes were brightly colored with blues deep enough to look purple, blues light enough to look neon and splashes of red, green and orange. The boys passed around these odd cigarettes and lit them.

Normally I surge with rage when I see trash strewn about by lazy, ignorant people. But intrigued, I was grateful as a finished pack landed as litter on the ground. After smoking, they retreated. I didn't bother waiting for them to walk out of view before picking up their garbage, as they were obviously too engrossed in their preadolescent conversations to notice.

Before I had a chance to examine the evidence, a child- probably five years old- happened to fall from his bike, and nearly onto the feet of the under aged and vulgar smokers. One offered a hand to the child, asking "you okay?" Two others reached to pick up the kid's bike. Those kids were "good" kids.

When I finally looked at the cigarette pack, I found no Surgeon General's warning. Instead I found dietary information and a list of ingredients. From the packaging, I learned that the box's intended use is to package 2.06 ounces of a candy- Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews- manufactured in Brazil for The Hershey Company of Pennsylvania. A little bit of research on line informed me that Hershey's calls the boxes stick packs and claims they are convenient for checkout stands.

A blank candy box would be indistinguishable from a blank cigarette box. The only difference between the two is the thickness of paper used. The paper flip-top on each is folded in the same fashion. I am amazed that candy and cigarettes are being sold in the boxes that share size, shape and mechanical design.

I saved the box to show it to my cousin. When I produced the package, I was sure I was sharing some kind of gem. But, she just said "oh, yeah...I buy loosies from a guy in those."
Astonished and disgusted, I asked, "Somebody actually sells cigarettes in these? How much does he charge per cig?"
"Oh, he got five for two dollars." She laughed as she added, "he even wrap them in plastic wrap!"
"Oh" I said. I was really surprised by this. It seems obvious that this is wrong. It seems silly and irresponsible for a company to give children a tasty product that creates emotional attachment to cigarette containers (which are the same throughout the world.) Furthermore, they provide under aged smokers the perfect disguise for their illegal deed.

Maybe, you say, I am being too critical. CEO Kenneth Wolfe and top execs at Hershey's do not intend to pervert young minds. Wolfe and company seek purely to provide hard, squashed cubes of sugar for children's eating enjoyment. Perhaps this is just the free market providing consumers with what they want.

The free market is propelled by an invisible hand, right? This is the metaphor used to describe the power of people in shaping the market. But, who is asking for candy in a cigarette box? Under aged smokers in NYC (obviously.) Considerate parents would not allow their kids to buy the candy. So, according to invisible hand rationality, in areas where parents are considerate, the product would not sell. But areas like Ravenswood's Projects- poverty stricken, drug afflicted, and state funded- the product will do exceptionally well because of the convenient design.

Again, I offer that maybe I am too critical. Maybe selling this product to inner city youths does not reflect contempt of producers and marketers towards their customers. According to Libertarians and businessmen alike, the free market imbues respect for humanity. In the popular libertarian speech "The Invisible Hand is a Gentle Hand" Sharon Harris says "Even the most racist businessman eventually realizes on some level that 'I might hate the color of their skin, but I love the color of their money.'"

So, yeah...Maybe I am too critical. But probably not.