Tobacco and Nicotine Industries’ Manipulation and Marketing Strategies to Promote Products to Youth

In a report derived from the World Health Organization (WHO) website and prepared by Dr. Sharif Turkmannejad, Scientific Advisor to the Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association (IATA), the manipulation and marketing strategies of the tobacco and nicotine industries aimed at attracting youth and adolescents have been examined. According to the report, these strategies pose a severe threat to the health of future generations.

According to IATA’s Public Relations, the details of this report are published below:

Key Messages

• Tobacco, nicotine, and similar products are frequently purposefully manipulated to attract and retain consumers; this is usually done deceptively for commercial gain, at the expense of public health.
• The tobacco and nicotine industry uses misleading descriptors to glamorize their harmful products and conceal their risks.
• Consumers of tobacco, nicotine, and related products often do not fully understand what they are consuming.
• The tobacco and nicotine industries use influencers to promote and glamorize their products for various demographics—including youth—to maximize profits.
• Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are required, and non-Parties are encouraged, to:
• Comprehensively ban tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship—including on digital platforms.
• Protect tobacco control policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.
• Countries should consider the following actions:
• Implement cost-effective and efficient counter-marketing strategies.
• Comprehensively ban the advertising, promotion, and sponsorship of nicotine and similar products, including on digital platforms.
• Rely on independent and credible sources for policy development and implementation.
• Establish mechanisms to monitor the market—including consumption patterns—and the strategies industries use to market their products, especially when targeting children and youth.

What are tobacco, nicotine, and related products?

These include a range of commercial products and devices, many of which deliver pharmacologically active doses of nicotine to the user. Even when claimed to be nicotine-free, they often mimic the usage patterns, appearance, or function of tobacco or nicotine products. They include:

• Combustible (smoked) tobacco products such as cigarettes, waterpipe tobacco, cigars, cigarillos, roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidis, kreteks, and heated tobacco products.
• Smokeless tobacco products.
• E-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.
• Some of these products are used with specific devices, accessories, and flavorings.

Who are the key market players?

The industry ranges from multinational corporations to regional manufacturers. However, it remains heavily dominated by a few large transnational corporations, often referred to as “Big Tobacco.” Having controlled the global cigarette market for decades, these companies are now diversifying by investing heavily in novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products to maximize profits.

How do these industries mislead the public?

The tobacco and nicotine industries employ calculated strategies, including:

• Manipulating product content and design to enhance appeal and nicotine addictiveness.
• Promoting deceptive marketing narratives that downplay the health risks.
• Manipulating science to minimize perceived risks.
• Political lobbying to protect their interests.
• Deceptive corporate branding, including “greenwashing” to portray environmental responsibility while attempting to distance themselves from combustible cigarettes.

Why is understanding these strategies important?

Recognizing these tactics is crucial for protecting public health, especially vulnerable groups like children and youth. Industry strategies aim to lower barriers to first use by creating a false sense of safety. These tactics maintain and exacerbate addiction. For example, adolescent e-cigarette users show signs of addiction, such as vaping within the first $30$ minutes of waking up. Continuous use increases exposure to toxins, and marketing tactics complicate quit attempts, often promoting dangerous dual or poly-use.

How are product descriptors used to manipulate perception?

Terms like “mild,” “light,” and “low-tar” were used for years to create a “reduced harm” illusion. While many countries have banned these terms (as per WHO FCTC recommendations), the industry now uses alternative descriptors, colors, and branding. Misleading terms like “organic,” “clean,” or “reduced risk” are intentionally used. Furthermore, “non-menthol” cigarettes often use packaging and descriptors identical to flavored products (e.g., “crisp,” “smooth,” “fresh”).

Examples of Content Manipulation:

• Nicotine Levels: The industry alters nicotine levels and chemical forms to increase addictiveness. Manufacturers optimize nicotine delivery by adjusting concentrations, pH, and additives. Some novel products deliver exceptionally high nicotine concentrations, sometimes exceeding conventional cigarettes. Synthetic nicotine analogs are also used to bypass regulations.
• Additives: Sugars, cooling agents, nicotine salts, and flavorings are added to increase appeal, palatability, and addictiveness. These can reduce nicotine harshness, making inhalation easier, and can alter the product’s toxicity and absorption rates.

Manipulating Public Perception of Risk:

Mislabeling is a highly deceptive marketing strategy. A recent study on nicotine levels in $15$ flavored waterpipe tobaccos from $5$ manufacturers found significant discrepancies. Of the $15$ flavors, $12$ ($80\%$) had significantly more nicotine than the labeled $0.05\%$. In these $12$ flavors, actual nicotine levels were between $20\%$ to $160\%$ higher than advertised. Similarly, many “nicotine-free” e-liquids actually contain nicotine when tested.

Deceptive Narratives and Undermining Cessation:

Big Tobacco vigorously markets novel products (like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco) as “next-generation,” “clean,” or “harm reduction” alternatives, encouraging smokers to switch. However, many users do not quit but become dual users. The industry supports these narratives by funding biased research, influencing scientists, and using third-party front groups.

Important Facts:

• All tobacco and nicotine products contain toxins and pose serious health risks.
• Lower levels of certain emissions do not necessarily equate to reduced health risks.
• Novel products have not been proven effective as population-level cessation tools and can actually undermine quit attempts.

Bypassing Bans and Targeting Youth:

Despite bans on flavorings and cooling agents in many countries, misleading labeling persists. For example, a study on $282$ waterpipe tobacco products showed only $39\%$ declared menthol/mint flavors, but $83\%$ actually contained menthol-like compounds. The industry also bypasses advertising bans through indirect marketing, brand stretching, and digital platforms (e.g., product placement in popular streaming series).

Social media marketing heavily targets youth. Content regarding e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches on platforms popular among youth is mostly positive, lacking health or age warnings. This is alarming as most users under $20$ are nicotine-naïve, and nicotine causes severe harm to the developing brain (which matures until around age $25$).

Who Enables the Industry?

The industry utilizes a complex network of celebrities, digital marketers, influencers, certain health professionals, think tanks, lobbyists, and front groups to amplify its narratives and cast doubt on health risks.

Manipulating Public Policy:

Industry lobbying is well-documented. Recent research shows strong opposition from Big Tobacco against the UK’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill (which aims to ban sales to anyone born after $2009$). During public consultations, $42\%$ of responses were linked to the industry. In countries like Kenya and Pakistan, the industry threatens to withdraw investments to pressure governments against strict regulations.

What Must Be Done?

To protect the public, continuous vigilance is required. Actions include:

• Relying on independent, credible sources (like WHO).
• Monitoring and exposing industry tactics.
• Ensuring regulatory frameworks guarantee strict transparency in industry interactions.
• Protecting health policies from commercial interference.
• The ultimate goal: Protecting the population, especially youth and adolescents, from the harms of tobacco and nicotine products.