Sometimes there’s more to an imaginary brand than what plays on the screen. From a scene in Children of Men in which Theo Faron has to empty his pockets to pass through a metal detector:
This is the only tight shot of Higham cigarettes in the film, and it only lasts for about a second. Over at the Prop Store of London they have the actual screen-used pack for sale. The listing allows you to zoom in on the details of the carton, revealing all sorts of interesting elements:
There are nice details that nod to the futuristic setting of the film such as the EU Directive License 2026 stamp and the Super Filters bit. Also, these are manufactured by the fictional Duckerman Tobacco Company (add one more to the list).
Now let’s look at the back of the carton:
In the U.S. our cigarette cartons include a Surgeon General’s warning which politely informs the consumer that smoking may cause emphysema or may complicate pregnancy. In Europe, the message is slightly less subtle, with large stickers affixed to both sides of the carton which read warnings such as SMOKING KILLS, SMOKERS DIE YOUNGER, and SMOKING CAUSES MOUTH CANCER, with accompanying graphic images of diseased gums and tumor-ravished tongues.
What I find interesting, admirable, and funny about the warning on the pack of Highams is that it’s a tiny story of its own. At some point, the government gave up on warning people about health problems (probably around the same time they started dispensing suicide kits), and focused all of their public health directives on fertility. Not entirely surprising, seeing as the premise of the film’s dystopian state is that no woman on earth has been able to get pregnant for nearly twenty years. Also, I love that these details never even read on the screen. They’re a part of the story that was only told to the characters, and not the audience.
Seconds later, as Faron continues to empty his pockets in the scene:
Quick Inventory:
- One pack of Highams & accompanying lighter
- One fiver
- One bottle of Bell’s Scotch (a real brand with a slightly different label than today’s iteration)
- What I can only assume are antacid tablets
- Two… skeleton keys?
People of the present, pull your money out of Biometric Sensor Lock Corp! They’re going down! I repeat, they’re going down!
Fun fact: also for sale at the Prop Store of London is another imaginary brand of cigarettes which never showed up on the screen at all. It was meant to be the brand smoked by the Romanian gypsie woman who helps Theo and Kee escape the refugee camp. If anyone knows a way to translate the writing on this carton, hook a blogger up!
