The Tobacco Industry's Selling Points for Its Nicotine Pouches

A study by the American organization Truth Initiative, published in the journal Tobacco Control[1] analyzes the marketing strategies used by the tobacco industry to promote its nicotine pouches to American consumers. The industry presents its products as alternatives to other tobacco products that can be consumed anywhere.

Oral nicotine pouches are a new product in the tobacco industry's portfolio that are typically offered in many different flavors. These products are sold in pouches similar to snus (snus is a moist smokeless tobacco powder that is typically placed under the upper lip, and does not require spitting unlike chewing tobacco) and are consumed in a similar manner. The difference is in the presentation of the product: instead of containing tobacco leaves, they are filled with white powder containing nicotine.

The researchers analyzed the tobacco industry's marketing narrative in 50 separate visuals of advertisements promoting these nicotine pouches. These ads were sent via direct mail between March 2018 and August 2020. The researchers estimated that more than 38 million ads were sent for these products during the period studied.

A marketing speech around products that can be consumed anywhere...

The results revealed that the majority of advertisements indicated that the products did not contain tobacco leaf (55%) and that these products were an alternative to other tobacco and nicotine products (69%). Nicotine pouches are mainly promoted (84% of advertisements) for their ability to be used anywhere unlike other tobacco and nicotine products. This type of discourse has often been used by tobacco manufacturers to market new products. The marketing discourse around these nicotine pouches is very similar to that used for snus in the United States.[2]. RJ Reynolds (which markets two brands of nicotine pouches) for example has increased its marketing targeting towards co-consumers (traditional cigarettes and snus) by focusing on the "benefits" of snus, namely that it can be consumed in public places where smoking is prohibited. Camel Snus has thus been promoted in places where smoking is prohibited.

…and which would be less toxic

These descriptions are similar to the terms used by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) to market its American Spirit cigarettes a few years ago. The tobacco company promoted the "additive-free" and "natural" nature of its cigarettes. The use of these descriptors has created a "health" halo effect around the brand compared to other cigarettes.[3][4][5] and led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require the removal of the labels “additive-free” and “natural” from the marketing of these products. The use of these same labels today for these new products again suggests that nicotine pouches are healthier and pose a reduced risk to consumers. Similarly, terms such as “tobacco-free” suggest that the products are healthier and pose a lower risk to their consumers.

The conversion of the tobacco industry into the nicotine industry

By expanding its product portfolio, the tobacco industry is continuing its transformation into a nicotine industry with the deployment of targeted marketing campaigns to expand its consumer base. Nicotine pouches are officially presented as a replacement for traditional cigarettes or even other nicotine products such as e-cigarettes described as "complicated" in some advertisements (need to be loaded and more subject to the same restrictions as traditional cigarettes). These nicotine pouches are starting to enter European markets where they are also presented as alternatives to tobacco products, particularly since the ban on menthol in May 2020 in the European Union. The brand owned by British American Tobacco, present in Central Europe and the United Kingdom, indeed offers menthol flavors.

The study's researchers note that no oral nicotine products sold in the United States have been approved as cessation medications, and none have received FDA approval to be marketed as modified-risk tobacco products. In other words, these ads have no scientific basis or regulatory basis.

Keywords: Nicotine pouches, new products, United States, Marketing, Advertising, harm reduction

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[1] Czaplicki L, Patel M, Rahman B, Yoon S, Schillo B, Rose SW. Oral nicotine marketing claims in direct-mail advertising. Tob Control. 2021 May 6: tobaccocontrol-2020-056446. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056446. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33958422.

[2] Tobacco Free Generation, RJ Reynolds' Marketing Strategies to Promote Snus in the United States, February 17, 2021, accessed May 10, 2021

[3] Moran MB, Pearson JL. Real. simple. deadly. A pilot test of consumer harm perceptions in response to natural American spirit advertising. Tob Regul Sci. 2019;5:360–8.doi:10.18001/TRS.5.4.6

[4] Pearson JL, Johnson A, Villanti A, Glasser AM, Collins L, Cohn A, Rose SW, Niaura R, Stanton CA. Misperceptions of harm among Natural American Spirit smokers: results from wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study (2013-2014). Tob Control. 2017 Mar;26(e1):e61-e67. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-053265. Epub 2016 Dec 6. PMID: 27924008.

[5] Gratale SK, Maloney EK, Sangalang A, Cappella JN. Influence of Natural American Spirit advertising on current and former smokers' perceptions and intentions. Tob Control. 2018 Sep;27(5):498-504. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053881. Epub 2017 Oct 21. PMID: 29055882.

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