Image via
A 60-year-old resident of eastern France was shocked to see a picture of his own amputated leg on a pack of cigarettes featuring the caption “Smoking clogs your arteries”.
The man claims he never gave the EU permission to use the photo, and since the injury is the result of of a 1997 shooting in Albania, its use as a smoking deterrent is ludicrous.
An EU representative has defended their actions, claiming the image is not of the Metz resident at all: “We have the identity, the agreement and the rights for all the people photographed for this campaign…from the information we have, we can say without a doubt that this individual is not one of them.”
The man has sought legal action, but as his story cannot be confirmed, it appears little will come of the suit. Furthermore, an investigation conducted by Le Parisien found that the image has been in circulation as early as 2014–a full three years prior to the man’s admittance to Metz’s hospital.
