Selling addiction

• Since 2011, major transnational tobacco companies – including Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco/RJ Reynolds, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International – have developed or acquired leading brands of e-cigarettes/ electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and novel tobacco products such as heated tobacco products (HTPs).
• In 2012, Japan Tobacco International acquired Nakhla, a leading waterpipe tobacco company, to widen its portfolio and footprint in the Middle East and Africa, a region that the industry views as ripe for e-cigarette marketing with a projected growth of 9.74% per year.
• In promoting these new devices, tobacco companies claim to have given “smokers a wider range of choices” and declare ENDS and HTPs to be “safer alternatives” intended as “reduced risk products”.

Philip Morris International’s leaked corporate affairs strategy (2014) reveals the company’s plans to simultaneously increase profits/sales and normalize the use of both cigarettes and novel products by engaging third parties (scientists, harm reduction advocates, policy-makers), establishing itself as a “solution provider” and resisting “extreme” regulations.

1. Corporate whitewashing: Tobacco companies are using ENDS and novel tobacco products to establish themselves as public health solution providers and to clean up their corporate image.
2. Misleading “safety” messages :

   Philip Morris spokesperson (2019):

   “We do a lot of the research ourselves when you use an e-cigarette or one of our products, you produce an aerosol. It’s made purely of water droplets”.

   U.S. Surgeon General (2016):

   “E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless “water vapour”.

3. Access to policy-makers and undue influence on tobacco control

   The “smoke-free” message create new opportunities for tobacco companies to access policy-makers and, therefore, the possibility to influence regulation of both novel tobacco products and traditional cigarettes.

4. Youth marketing The false perception of the “safety” of ENDS, coupled with intense marketing of attractive products through innovative channels, has enticed new users who are non-smokers, including young people. As a result, a teenage vaping epidemic is occurring in the United States, Canada and other countries.
5. Reversal of smoke-free laws and advertising bans Progress made in tobacco control – such as comprehensive advertising bans and 100% smoke-free environments – could be reversed if novel tobacco products are mistakenly viewed as public health solutions.

The tobacco industry’s tactics are the same when it comes to increasing profits from both traditional and novel tobacco products: marketing to the young. Even competing tobacco companies agree that teenagers have been targeted.

Touch below to see how the tobacco industry’s strategies are applied to sell ENDS/HTPs. Manipulated nicotine content

Manipulated nicotine content

Increasing the level of nicotine content in novel products to remain competitive.

Marketing flavoured products

Selling fruit-flavoured e-cigarettes and using brand names similar to cereal and candy products that appeal to youth.

Low taxes

Keeping taxes low. The industry claim the prices of their products must be lower than cigarettes to be “proportionate to the level of harm”.

Marketing to the youth

Using young social media influencers and images to promote their new products.

Sponsoring pop-culture

Sponsoring music and film festivals and events (Juul with Sundance, Blu with Sasquatch!, and Japan Tobacco International’s #ReThinkMusic).