Australian tobacco accused of 'sick joke' The slogan was emblazoned on a new line of Peter Stuyvesant packets, the last to be produced before the start of the country's tough new packaging laws. Tobacco firms must stop manufacturing branded packets from October 1 under new laws requiring all cigarettes to be sold in drab khaki boxes with graphic health warnings. The laws - the first of their kind in the world - commence on December 1 but the manufacturing deadline will allow retailers to phase in the new plain packets. The last-ditch Peter Stuyvesant packets show the brand ripped at one corner to reveal the new-look plain box, while accompanying advertisements say: "We're going plain early because we know Peter Stuyvesant will continue to live on inside." Separately, British American Tobacco Australia has changed the descriptors of some cigarettes to image-based names such as "crush blue," "crush sky," "sea green menthol" and "smooth amber." Imperial Tobacco said its new packets were "a mechanism to provide factual information" about the impact of the new laws. Tanya Plibersek, the Australian health minister, said Imperial Tobacco's new slogan was ironic "given that what's on the inside is a product that, if used as the maker intends, will kill half of its regular users." "[This is] the ultimate sick joke from big tobacco" she said.