LGBT community in tobacco industry's sights

According to a study published in January 2019 by researchers at the University of Michigan, A person from an LGBT community is about twice as likely to start smoking as a heterosexual person[1]. Part of this inequality is explained by the fact that the tobacco industry developed marketing strategies targeting this community very early on. They Cigarette manufacturers quickly became interested in this stigmatized population and often in a situation of psychological fragility. The tobacco industry, knowing perfectly the motivations and characteristics of minorities, has cynically carved out a place of choice for itself in the LGBT collective imagination[2]. Concretely, this resulted for example in the implementation of the SCUM targeting strategy.[3] (Subculture Urban Marketing) in 1995 in the United States, designed by JR Reynolds, and specifically targeting gay people and the homeless. The tools deployed in this strategy were multiple: considerable advertising and marketing resources to conquer this market, financial support for causes appreciated by this target (donation to organizations fighting AIDS), visible presence at connoted events such as Gay Pride. The messages designed to encourage this particular target to smoke have also been adapted. Thus, a terminology based on freedom of choice and personal emancipation is mobilized, in order to match the semantic universe of smoking with the issues specific to LGBT people. Similarly, in slogans, illustrations and campaigns, in a sometimes provocative tone, contribute to making the cigarette seem like an instrument of rebellion, non-conformist because it is an alternative to traditional frameworks. The tobacco industry's marketing goal to reach gay, trans, and lesbian people is to trivialize smoking among this target audience. And it seems to be working, since smoking is considered normal within this community: a study showed that 30% of advertisements aimed at LGBT people promoting other products and services depicted smoking. At 98%, cigarettes were represented positively. As a result, the tobacco industry has managed to connect with the imagination of LGBT communities. To go further on this subject ©Tobacco Free Generation

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Sources: Fig 1: https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/9/1/103 Fig 2 and 3: https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/07/gays-and-smoking-how-tobacco-companies-target-queers.html?via=gdpr-consent [1] BOYD Carol, Lyberty Pub, “Severity of alcohol, tobacco and drug use disorders among sexual minority individuals and their “not sure” counterparts”, 01/16/2019 https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/LGBT.2018.0122?journalCode=lgbt [2] American Lung Association, “Smoking out a deadly threat. Tobacco use in the LGBT community. https://www.lung.org/assets/documents/research/lgbt-report.pdf [3] Washington Harriet, NCBI, “Burning Love. Big Tobacco takes aim at LGBT youths”, July 2002. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222279/ | ©National Committee Against Smoking |