Study: Industry marketing of tar content

A 2018 investigation in South Korea shows that tobacco manufacturers continue to deploy specific marketing on tobacco products with lower tar content, misleading consumers about the real health risks involved.[1].

The authors of the study analyzed 178 packs of cigarettes purchased in Seoul and Busan. Each pack was coded according to its tar content, which could range from 0.1 to 8 milligrams. Cigarettes were classified as "ultra-low" if they contained less than 1 milligram of tar, as "low" if they contained a content between 1 mg and 3 mg, as "medium" if they contained between 3 mg and 6 mg, and as "high" if they contained more than 6 milligrams of tar. Each pack of cigarettes was then coded according to the presence of specific information related to tar in the tobacco.

Specific marketing on tar

The study results show that tobacco companies are developing specific marketing around cigarette packs containing "ultra-low" and "low" tar levels. For example, 80% of the packs containing less than 3 milligrams included additional marketing indicating the tar content, compared to only 47% for cigarette packs containing at least medium tar levels. Similarly, the colors used on the packs tended to vary depending on the tar levels present. Indeed, the study authors noted a more frequent use of lighter colors for low-tar products, and increasingly darker colors for those containing higher tar levels.

Misleading the consumer

For the researchers, manufacturers' practices of strongly advertising the lower tar content of certain tobacco products can mislead smokers about the real risks of their tobacco consumption. This marketing aims to imply that some cigarettes are less harmful than others, potentially encouraging smokers to switch to these products rather than quitting smoking. For this reason, the authors of the study emphasize the importance for the Korean government to ban any mention of tar content on tobacco packages.

A recurring strategy of the tobacco industry

This strategy of exploiting the notion of "harm reduction" is a recurring practice of the tobacco industry. In Western countries where strict regulations have helped to curb the tobacco consumption curve, such as in Europe and France, this same discourse on harm reduction is recycled by the tobacco industry to promote heated tobacco. However, to date, no independent scientific study has been able to demonstrate the slightest harm from the consumption of these new products compared to manufactured cigarettes.

Keywords: Tar, Korea, Study, Marketing

[1] Iacobelli M, Cho J, Welding K, Smith K, Cohen JE. Machine-assessed tar yield marketing on cigarette packages from two cities in South Korea. Tobacco Induced Diseases. 2021;19(July):54. doi:10.18332/tid/136421.

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