Cigarette maker Philip Morris has published an open letter to Hollywood filmmakers asking them not to feature the company's products in movies, the Associated Press reported.

Ads stating, "Please Don't Give Our Cigarette Brands a Part in Your Movie" were scheduled to run in industry trade publications like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. The company said the move was aimed at reducing adolescent smoking.

But industry critics were not impressed. Stanton Glantz, head of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California at San Francisco, called the move a PR ploy and said that Philip Morris will still benefit from any movie smoking scenes since it sells the brand most favored by teen smokers, Marlboro.