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Last year, Spanish group Dvicio was riding the wave after their latest album topped the charts. Young
people
- who are approaching 30 years or have passed them - were featured in the summer as stars on the cover of
Like!
, a magazine for teenagers. Despite the pandemic, the band continued to tour Spain. But their concerts had something different: they were sponsored by British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. In an exclusive performance in Madrid, the front rows were packed with
influencer
to promote Glo, BAT's new heated tobacco product.
Behind them sat people who had won entries in a raffle on Glo's Instagram account.
And those who missed it had the opportunity to see Dvicio at the Starlite Festival in Marbella, also sponsored by the brand.
More information
Vaping, TikTok and menthol cigarettes: the new ways to hook teens on tobacco
The long shadow of the tobacco industry
Nicotine addiction is on the rise among teens
BAT has assured regulators around the world that its new products, including heated tobacco and oral nicotine, are for adult smokers. But as these sponsorships make clear, it has launched an aggressive marketing campaign of more than 1 billion euros focused on social media, concerts and sporting events that could encourage young people to acquire the habit of smoking, potentially deadly and It continues to kill eight million people a year, despite long-standing rules to prevent it.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) shows that several of these tactics used in different countries around the world have attracted a new generation, including non-smokers, to highly addictive tobacco and nicotine products, and it seems to be a consequence of BAT's plans for further growth.
These tactics include:
Present nicotine products as attractive and desirable in a youth-focused magazine campaign.
Pay
influencer
(people with many followers)
of social networks to promote electronic cigarettes, nicotine bags and tobacco on Instagram, despite the fact that the platform prohibits this practice.
Sponsor sporting and music events, including an F1 esports tournament that was streamed live on YouTube for kids to watch.
Offer free international samples of nicotine bags and e-cigarettes that appear to have attracted minors and non-smokers.
BAT's response to the journalistic investigations was: “All promotional activity for our products will be directed only at adult consumers, and is not designed to attract or attract young people… We do all of our marketing responsibly, strictly adhering to our International Marketing Principles, local laws and regulations, and platform policies.
We only use
influencers
in some countries where it is allowed and where social media policies allow it ”.
Glo is part of the latest bombardment of "next generation products" launched by BAT in an attempt to diversify cigarettes and, as experts fear, to make the next generation addicted to nicotine or tobacco.
Despite the claim that these products are aimed at adults who already smoke, partly to help them quit conventional cigarettes, there is
clear evidence that the company also wants to
attract new customer
s
.
Along with its slogan
A Better Tomorrow
(a better tomorrow), the aim of BAT is "to stimulate the senses of the new generations of adults."
In investor presentations, BAT has stated that
wants to increase the overall size of the nicotine market.
Their own research, as the TBIJ has found, shows that at least half of adults who vape and those who acquire nicotine bags did not consume nicotine before, that is, they had never smoked.
"It's very clear that these companies are spending huge amounts of money to develop new products," explains Martin McKee, a professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“It makes absolutely no sense that they are intended to be products to quit and be consumed for a short period of time.
The only reason so much effort is put into its design is to create a new generation that is addicted to nicotine. "
New habits
Young, beautiful people in Sweden are writing about a new fad on the social media: polar white nicotine bags that are placed between the gums and teeth.
They're called Velo (or Lyft in some markets), and they come in various flavors.
The ads emphasize that they are discreet.
The hashtag for exchanges, #lyftsnus, has garnered nearly 13 million views on TikTok.
And in a candid video, a fan lip-
syncs
(pretends to sing)
in a meme after showing his followers a box of bags: “People think I'm obsessed with this, but that's fine with me.
I'm obsessed with this, but I think it's an obsession that doesn't hurt anyone ”.
@ dumblondin0101
Skaka lagom i slutet bit you get it.
#litegay #men #d #e #okej #anisdondemina #foryou # fördig #lyftsnus
♬ bleeding love - <3
The facts indicate otherwise.
Nicotine is toxic to the developing adolescent brain.
BAT has been forced to recall its nicotine bags in Russia, where products made by other brands are blamed for causing multiple adolescent hospitalizations
and to be related to a death.
Unfortunately, it seems that that hasn't stopped BAT from seemingly turning its sights on younger generations in other markets.
An 18-year-old Swede acknowledged that half of the girls in his class used Lyft and that they found it much more attractive than
snus
, a similar product made from tobacco.
"Lyft has a super cool
modern Södermalm
influencer
aura
," he said.
“Taking Lyft has become fashionable.
If you take a look at the box, you see that the bottom is transparent to make it a bit futuristic;
and then the cap is white with a different color for each flavor.
It's like walking into a candy store.
The box looks much happier than the ones that look from 1800. Lyft knows what it does and does it well. "
Paul Lageweg, director of new categories at BAT, boasts how much nicotine bags appeal to Gen Z adults (including those born between 1997 and 2012) and millennials.
He notes that Pakistan and Kenya are his main test markets, and sees them as BAT's most exciting opportunity.
In Pakistan, samples of BAT Velo nicotine bags have been given away inside what appears
a large-scale campaign
in which young representatives of the brand, who work on commission, distribute them at parties, shopping centers, tea shops, restaurants and tobacconists.
There is concern that the brand has also actively encouraged non-users to try Velo.
A man in Pakistan claimed on an official Velo social media account that he was going to take nicotine for the first time in the form of Velo.
The brand responded that they were "very excited" and asked him to send his comments.
"Superguay", answered the Internet user.
BAT denies that it is conducting inappropriate promotional activity in Pakistan.
Ads for BAT's nicotine bags posted on Facebook emphasize that the product is 'discreet'.
A 17-year-old in Pakistan said they were offered a free sample without asking for an identity document.
And there was a similar incident in the UK last October when a 17-year-old boy was offered a free sample of BAT's Vype e-cigarette without checking his age or whether he smoked.
BAT responded that it only gave out free samples to adult smokers.
In Kenya, the alleged availability of Lyft bags from vending machines in large shopping centers prompted the Ministry of Health to write to the Pharmaceutical and Toxic Substances Council.
In the letter, the ministry described the practice as "contrary to the law."
In an email to the authors of this report, BAT responded: “Our Kenyan subsidiary, BAT Kenya, strongly denies that it has ever sold Lyft bags from vending machines. BAT Kenya has confirmed this in writing to the Pharmaceutical and Toxic Substances Council and the Ministry of Health. BAT's guidelines for their retailers require them to ensure that only they can physically access the product. "
In the opinion of Anne Kendagor, Director of the Kenya Tobacco Control Division, “The tobacco industry has stated that the product helps smokers to quit, but that it is marketed for non-smokers, for young people… Which means that no fulfills its purpose. It should only be sold to cigarette smokers. Our surveillance has shown that those who start to consume are young people who are starting in the new habit ”.
In response to questions from TBIJ in Kenya, a worker from BAT's Public Relations agency asked the journalist “what was his price” in exchange for the investigation. Later, the company assured that "it has a zero tolerance policy with any form of bribery", that it was conducting an investigation and that, for now, it had suspended the employee. For its part, BAT claimed that it no longer worked with that agency.
"The tobacco industry's track record of targeting youth is famous, terrible, and very long," says Taylor Billings, deputy media director for the Corporate Accountability group, which is dedicated to organizing campaigns.
"So it's a bit naive now to suddenly think that because they have a new marketing campaign, they are not using some of the same tactics that they have been using for the past 20 years."
Social networks addiction
The objective may not have changed, but the tactics have been updated for the digital age. In Pakistan, BAT has turned to TikTok for its #OpenTheCan (open the can) ad campaign for Velo. Elsewhere, the company has used an
influencer
on the Internet; Data analysis from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids shows that 40
influencer
Facebook and Instagram posts
using Velo's tags have been viewed 13.1 million times and have an audience in power of more than 181 million.
Since the bags do not contain tobacco, they are not subject to regulation under the advertising laws and regulations pertaining to this product in most countries.
Facebook's rules specify that
influencers
cannot include content from brands promoting tobacco and e-cigarettes on any of its platforms in their posts, although dozens of them have slipped through the cracks.
A Facebook spokesperson noted: "We do not allow advertisements or brand content promoting tobacco-related products on Instagram, and we remove non-compliant content that has been notified to us."
BAT ensures that all the
influencers
it works with provide valid proof that the majority of its followers are adults.
Billings claims that the entries note that BAT has targeted a young audience. "The tobacco industry has such significant funding that things cannot be a coincidence," he adds. "You don't accidentally put shiny ads on a platform that has a huge percentage of Gen Z users or millennials."
The paid promotion by
Kenyan
influencers
made the Lyft brand glamorous and desirable.
On Jumia, a popular shopping website among Kenyan young middle class, BAT sold Lyft in the party category.
(The brand has recently recalled the product from the market in Kenya.)
In addition to the photographs posted on the asphalt, an
influencer
captioned "Fast cars and caftan dreams ... #LYFTxMcLaren".
It was an allusion to another updated marketing tactic for BAT's new products, the sponsorship of F1.
Back to the circuits
Tobacco advertising on F1 cars has been banned since 2006, but BAT and Ferrari sponsor Philip Morris International are technically complying with the rules by promoting their nicotine brands or slogans.
The company's new sponsorship agreement with McLaren includes advertising for the electronic cigarette Vuse.AFP7 via Europa Press / Europa Press
BAT, which had previously founded the British American Racing team, returned to F1 in 2019 for the first time since the ban was imposed.
The company's new sponsorship deal with McLaren includes advertising for the Vuse e-cigarette and the Velo nicotine bag on drivers' uniforms and “highly visible locations” on McLaren cars, along with its trademarked slogan “A Tomorrow best".
The company also sponsors F1 e-sports events that are streamed live on YouTube.
And although to see them, viewers have to register on the platform as over 18 years old, during a tournament, several viewers revealed that they were minors.
Almost 90% of online mentions of nicotine for consumption were from Velo / Lyft, and the audience had practically tripled in size compared to the previous year
The sponsorship campaign even reached an agreement with Rudimental, the
drum and bass group
(drums and bass) for a series of live broadcasts on Vuse's YouTube channel, the first of which ended the season of F1.
BAT affirms that its collaboration with McLaren "is appropriate, responsible and complies with all laws and regulations, and with our International Marketing Principles."
The large outlay on sponsorships and the
influencer
campaign
are paying off in terms of brand reach and recognition.
BAT recently assured its investors that interaction with the brand on social media had increased during the pandemic.
Almost 90% of online mentions of nicotine for consumption were from Velo / Lyft, and the audience had nearly tripled in size compared to the previous year.
The game of generations
Not only are the marketing aspects of BAT reminiscent of a bygone era, but so are the products.
Heated tobacco gadgets like the Glo, although they look like trendy gadgets, have a long history.
The first patent for heated tobacco was applied for by Canadian inventor WJ McCormick in 1935. In the 1960s, BAT developed gadgets with code names like Mad Hatter and Ariel, but it took until 1988 for RJ Reynolds, a subsidiary, to launch a product to market.
Stephan Risi, author of an academic article on the Ariel project, says that it was "the moment when a tobacco company first understood the idea that they were not selling tobacco or cigarettes, but rather an addictive drug: nicotine."
The project was reportedly put on hold because it was feared that it would hurt cigarette sales.
Today, after decades of public health measures that have ended up affecting cigarette sales, BAT aggressively promotes heated tobacco and nicotine-only products.
An internal BAT document from 1984 on another experimental product shows that the company has long been mulling over how to replace older adult smokers with new customers.
In evaluating an oral tobacco pouch - similar to Lyft / Velo's current nicotine-only bags - the company pointed to the profitability potential of "smokeless products."
"The propaganda against smoking in schools may well mean that the industry cannot expect future generations to acquire the habit of smoking at the rate of previous ones," the BAT document stated.
"One-piece smokeless products could give us the opportunity to reap new benefits rather than eat up the current benefits generated by cigarettes."
In Italy, traditional tobacco use fell each year for the last three decades.
That was until 2010, when the introduction of e-cigarettes increased demand.
Ruediger Krech, Director of the World Health Organization's Department of Health Promotion, notes: "The tobacco industry is constantly introducing new products to attract a new generation of addicts to harmful nicotine and tobacco."
Tobacco companies claim that they offer heated tobacco to improve public health, as evidenced by BAT's “Better Tomorrow” slogan.
And there is some evidence that heated tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes.
However, experts note that instead of directing smokers to less harmful products, some new customers may switch from bags or heated tobacco to cigarettes.
“Anytime you get someone to get addicted to nicotine, they are more likely to use other nicotine-providing products and to continue using them if they further satisfy their addiction,” says Eric Lindblom, former director of tobacco control for the Food and Drug Administration. US Medicines (FDA).
In Italy, for example, traditional tobacco use fell each year for the past three decades.
That was until 2010, when the introduction of e-cigarettes increased demand, says Silvano Gallus, an epidemiologist at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy.
The expert adds that the arrival of heated tobacco in Italy in 2014 has encouraged young people who, otherwise, would not have started with conventional cigarettes.
BAT has responded: “Introducing new products to adult smokers will inevitably make non-smokers hear about them as well.
However, we believe that for adult consumers who choose to fall into the nicotine category, it is better to choose a product with reduced potential risk, rather than cigarettes. "
Concern increases
BAT makes no secret of its desire to increase the overall size of its nicotine market.
Their research, accessed by the authors of this report, shows that at least half of adult vapers and those who use nicotine bags did not use nicotine products before.
Thanks to the tax exemptions, the new products are also more profitable: BAT's gross profits with Glo heated tobacco and Velo nicotine bags are 78% and 70%, respectively, compared to 67% with cigarettes.
These figures appear to contradict what BAT has stated to the FDA in the United States and to regulators in the European Union, and what its informational material in at least three other countries states that the purpose of the new products is to offer adult smokers credible and viable alternatives to nonsmoking.
Regulators around the world have struggled to keep up with the explosion of alternative nicotine products on the market. Many health experts believe that stricter laws are necessary to prevent these products from causing net harm to public health. "Governments have to effectively regulate products like nicotine bags, just as they have done with tobacco products," says WHO's Krech. "Otherwise, young people could become addicted to products that have not been around for long enough to fully understand how harmful they are."
In the world there have been different responses. The tolerance with which Pakistan treats nicotine bags stands in contrast to the strict regulation that it is trying to adopt in Kenya, where authorities have expressed concern about how popular they are with young people. Many countries are likely to follow the lead of the US FDA, just as they did with e-cigarettes. The agency cracked down on vaping company Juul after blaming its advertising for a vaping epidemic among teens.
However, BAT rival Philip Morris recently welcomed the FDA's decision to allow its iQOA heated tobacco device to be marketed as a "modified risk tobacco product."
This is partly due to studies indicating that it reduces exposure to 15 harmful or potentially harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes.
Despite this, the product is not "FDA approved."
In fact, in its decision, the agency stated: “It is important to note that these products are not safe, so that people who do not currently use tobacco products, especially young people, should not start using these or any other related products. with the".
This makeover simply highlights what they have always sold, which is an addictive product that is harmful to health.
Taylor Billings, Corporate Accountability
Eric Lindblom, the FDA's former director of tobacco control, believes that the agency's decision to allow several alternative tobacco products to be marketed as “modified risk” products does not take into account all of their potential harms.
"It seems that the FDA's attitude is that we are not allowed to do anything unless there is a crisis," he says.
“They are not willing to close the barn door until the cows have already escaped;
this seems to be the attitude that their orders reflect, because there are many reasonable preventive measures that they could and have not taken ”.
Lindblom suggests that only declared smokers be allowed to market nicotine products.
"I think there is certainly an access risk and we have to figure out how to eliminate that risk instead of spending 10 years trying to figure out how important and damaging that risk is," he says.
"Let's just get rid of him through good policies."
BAT states: “We are committed to creating 'A Better Tomorrow' by reducing the health impact of our business by offering a greater selection of products that are pleasant and less dangerous for our consumers.
Our multi-category strategy provides the broadest selection of alternative nicotine products with potentially reduced risk to adult smokers who want to quit. ”
"This makeover simply highlights what they have always sold, which is an addictive product that is harmful to health," says Taylor Billings of Corporate Accountability.
Cigarettes kill about 15 people every minute, so it's easy to see why a less deadly alternative is attractive to Big Tobacco.
But ex-smokers remain a shrinking market.
“It is not good for the industry if their products kill their consumers, so if they can claim to have a healthier product, they will get a lot of people to try it.
And suddenly, there are teenagers with nicotine addictions and companies ready to take advantage, ”Billings ends.
The next generation
- Velo / Lyft.
Flavored nicotine bags from BAT.
They do not contain tobacco and, therefore, enter a zone of legal uncertainty.
- Vuse / Vype.
BAT's e-cigarette brands, which contain nicotine, but not tobacco.
Many countries and many social media platforms have updated their regulations to specifically prohibit the promotion of e-cigarettes.
- Glo and Glo Hyper.
BAT's heated tobacco product, which heats a cigarette-like tobacco cylinder inside an appliance.
As a tobacco product, it tends to violate current regulations.
This article was
originally published
in The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ).
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