Pride Month: A Marketing Opportunity for the Tobacco Industry
July 3, 2020
Par: communication@cnct.fr
Dernière mise à jour: July 3, 2020
Temps de lecture: 4 minutes
June is Pride Month – a time to celebrate progress, recognize achievements, and commemorate the struggles of the LGBTQ community. The tobacco industry is currently facing a decline in tobacco consumption around the world, and is working to capitalize on its positioning towards targets like the LGBTQ community, where it has particularly expanded its marketing activities.LGBTQ community seen as growth marketTobacco companies including British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and Philip Morris International (PMI) have used social media to tweet messages of support for their LGBTQ employees and colleagues. The LGBTQ community is a segment of its customer base that it is working to retain and grow.
The tobacco industry has a history of marketing to marginalized groups, including Black people, women, and LGBTQ people. Industry efforts to reach out to LGBTQ audiences on a mass scale began in the 1990s. The German cigarette company, Reemstma ran an ad for its New West cigarette brand featuring a gay wedding celebration. Philip Morris bought advertising space in the American magazine, " Gender »[1] very popular. A internal document from manufacturer Philip Morris highlights that the company singles out the LGBTQ population as a potentially very promising market for its growth. New tobacco products are no exception to this marketing targeting. In 2019, after the launch of Philip Morris' new heated tobacco product in the United Kingdom, the company sponsored the health section of Gay Star News[2] and hosted a “Pride afterparty” that it announced would take place at IQOS stores in London.
Marketing targeting that worksTobacco companies often advertise at Pride celebrations and other LGBTQ-specific events. In LGBTQ publications and media, tobacco advertisements often portray tobacco use as a commonplace and normative behavior. This strategic marketing not only contributes to the initiation and continuation of tobacco use among LGBTQ young adults, but also implies that the tobacco industry is an ally of the community in its struggles. Tobacco companies appeal to LGBTQ community members by deliberately using values such as “freedom" And "choice"The message is to give the conviction to members of the LGBTQ community that by smoking cigarettes, they are able to fully control this dimension of their lives, unlike other daily realities where they are exposed to stress, stigma and discrimination. According to Truth Initiative, overall, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults smoke at rates up to 2.5 times higher[3] than heterosexual adults. Today, the LGBT community is among the hardest hit by tobacco. In the United States, according to the National Health Information Survey[4], nearly 21% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults (transgender identity was not specifically recorded in this survey) reported being current cigarette smokers. In comparison, approximately 15% of non-LGB adults were smokers in this survey.©Tobacco Free Generation
[1] Smith, Elizabeth A, and Ruth E Malone. “The outing of Philip Morris: advertising tobacco to gay men.” American journal of public health flight. 93.6 (2003): 988-93. doi:10.2105/ajph.93.6.988[2] Gay Star News is a UK based news website focusing on events related to and concerning the global LGBTI community.[3] Lee JGL, Griffin GK, Melvin CL Tobacco use among sexual minorities in the USA, 1987 to May 2007: a systematic review Tobacco Control 2009;18:275-282.[4] 2016 NHIS: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2018;67(2):53-9 [accessed 2018 Jun 1].©National Committee Against Smoking |
The tobacco industry has a history of marketing to marginalized groups, including Black people, women, and LGBTQ people. Industry efforts to reach out to LGBTQ audiences on a mass scale began in the 1990s. The German cigarette company, Reemstma ran an ad for its New West cigarette brand featuring a gay wedding celebration. Philip Morris bought advertising space in the American magazine, " Gender »[1] very popular. A internal document from manufacturer Philip Morris highlights that the company singles out the LGBTQ population as a potentially very promising market for its growth. New tobacco products are no exception to this marketing targeting. In 2019, after the launch of Philip Morris' new heated tobacco product in the United Kingdom, the company sponsored the health section of Gay Star News[2] and hosted a “Pride afterparty” that it announced would take place at IQOS stores in London.
Marketing targeting that worksTobacco companies often advertise at Pride celebrations and other LGBTQ-specific events. In LGBTQ publications and media, tobacco advertisements often portray tobacco use as a commonplace and normative behavior. This strategic marketing not only contributes to the initiation and continuation of tobacco use among LGBTQ young adults, but also implies that the tobacco industry is an ally of the community in its struggles. Tobacco companies appeal to LGBTQ community members by deliberately using values such as “freedom" And "choice"The message is to give the conviction to members of the LGBTQ community that by smoking cigarettes, they are able to fully control this dimension of their lives, unlike other daily realities where they are exposed to stress, stigma and discrimination. According to Truth Initiative, overall, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults smoke at rates up to 2.5 times higher[3] than heterosexual adults. Today, the LGBT community is among the hardest hit by tobacco. In the United States, according to the National Health Information Survey[4], nearly 21% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults (transgender identity was not specifically recorded in this survey) reported being current cigarette smokers. In comparison, approximately 15% of non-LGB adults were smokers in this survey.©Tobacco Free Generation[1] Smith, Elizabeth A, and Ruth E Malone. “The outing of Philip Morris: advertising tobacco to gay men.” American journal of public health flight. 93.6 (2003): 988-93. doi:10.2105/ajph.93.6.988[2] Gay Star News is a UK based news website focusing on events related to and concerning the global LGBTI community.[3] Lee JGL, Griffin GK, Melvin CL Tobacco use among sexual minorities in the USA, 1987 to May 2007: a systematic review Tobacco Control 2009;18:275-282.[4] 2016 NHIS: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2018;67(2):53-9 [accessed 2018 Jun 1].©National Committee Against Smoking |
