Alexander Barker We know that there are tobacco references in music and in the image portrayed by musicians, often associated with themes of rebellion. Smoking content in the media is a causal factor in experimentation and uptake by young people, likely due to social learning. Furthermore, the tobacco industry has previously attempted to target ‘hip’ […]
Category: Marketing/Advertising
China’s e-cigarette manufacturers facing uncertain future
Ross MacKenzie, Jennifer Fang and Julia Smith China’s electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) industry accounts for close to 90% of global production. Based in Shenzhen in Guangdong province, an estimated 3,900 manufacturers employed some 2 million people in 2018 and reported sales of 33.7bn yuan (US$ 4.8bn) and exports worth 28.7bn yuan (US$ 4bn). Figures for […]
Mexico: cultural icons and giveaways for vaping advertising on Instagram
Guadalupe Ponciano-Rodríguez and Carlos Alberto Chávez Castillo Although they are legally forbidden in Mexico, Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) have increased in popularity, despite the fact that evidence about their potential harms and benefits is still evolving and contested. Vaping-related advertising on social media is increasing, particularly on platforms popular with young people. We recently […]
World: PMI in global motorsport smoke-free PR spin
John Baker Mission Winnow (MW) is a PMI campaign claiming to focus on “…innovation and technology to expedite change” through sponsorship of the Ferrari Formula One (F1) team, the Pramac MotoE team and the Ducati MotoGP team. Ducati launched its 2019 bikes at PMI’s Cube building, with PMI’s Miroslaw Zielinski and the MW logo designer, […]
Tobacco is deadly. Calling it ‘popular’ may send the wrong message
Stephanie R. Land and Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou National Cancer Institute, USA Tobacco control efforts are regularly complicated by the entry of new tobacco products into the marketplace. New products are often not well understood by the public, including members of the target markets, healthcare professionals, and community leaders. For example, we may lack information […]
Indonesia: the continued expansion of JUUL from the USA
Elizabeth Orlan, Rachel Grana, and Mark Parascandola In early July, we authored an industry watch article JUUL from the USA to Indonesia, published in Tobacco Control. It outlined moves by JUUL to formally enter the Indonesian market, where the products were already being sold both online and in vape shops. JUUL has now officially launched […]
The “Messi” problem of bidi branding in India
Kevin Welding The Tobacco Pack Surveillance System (TPackSS) has been systematically collecting and digitally archiving tobacco packs in low and middle-income countries since 2013. In 2016, we added the “Share-a-Pack” feature to the website to allow the uploading of packaging images by anyone around the world. In July 2018, a bidi (or biri) pack with […]
Why Tobacco Control still won’t publish tobacco industry funded work, even if the funding is laundered through PMI’s new ‘independent’ foundation
Authors: The Tobacco Control Senior Editorial Team (listed in alphabetical order): Joaquin Barnoya, Joanna Cohen, Coral Gartner, Lisa Henriksen, Sarah Hill, Ruth E. Malone, Richard O’Connor Tobacco Control has a normative focus: we strive to publish the best research that informs and advances public health and policy. In this spirit – and because of a […]
Is Philip Morris’ claim it wants to phase out conventional cigarettes credible?
In recent months, Philip Morris International has been claiming it wants to lead the push to a smoke free world and wants to work with governments towards the phase out of conventional cigarettes. The claims have been met with scepticism, but do they stand up to scrutiny? At an investor day held in late September 2016, […]
Finally, some truth in advertising from the tobacco industry
Stan Shatenstein Editor & Publisher, STAN Bulletin JTI-Macdonald is one of Canada’s big three tobacco firms. On Saturday 17 September, it ran an ad in several of Canada’s leading newspapers to argue against tobacco plain packaging legislation, which the Canadian government is currently considering. The ad is shown here: […]