IQOS print magazine advertising characteristics and reach before and after FDA authorisation as a modified risk tobacco product.

INTRODUCTION: IQOS is a heated tobacco product that was authorised as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) in July 2020. While it was removed from the US market in 2021 for legal reasons, as the first tobacco product to receive an 'exposure modification' MRTP order, surveillance of IQOS marketing is needed to inform regulation and policy for future MRTPs. The purpose of this study is to expand the current research on IQOS advertising in the USA by examining content and readership characteristics of IQOS ads in print magazines before and after US Food and Drug Administration MRTP authorisation. METHODS: We merged content analysis data with Kantar Media data on magazine placement and expenditures. Magazine readership data were obtained from MRI-Simmons. We compared data from pre-MRTP authorisation with data post-MRTP authorisation. This study was conducted in 2021. RESULTS: There was one unique ad and there were 13 observations pre-MRTP, and eight unique ads and 132 observations post-MRTP. Compared with pre-MRTP ads, more post-MRTP ads featured Marlboro HeatSticks, including Amber HeatSticks, and featured people. All ads contained a warning label-most warning labels were cigarette specific. IQOS ads were featured in magazines that are especially popular among women. CONCLUSIONS: After receiving MRTP authorisation, IQOS increased ad expenditures in print magazines with a readership comprised of primarily women. If IQOS returns to the US market, it will be important for tobacco control to monitor their advertisement content, placement, and expenditures.

Tobacco-Derived Nicotine Pouch Brands and Marketing Messages on Internet and Traditional Media: Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nicotine pouches and lozenges are increasingly available in the United States, and sales are growing. The brands of nicotine pouch products with the largest market share are produced by tobacco companies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the marketing of 5 oral nicotine products sold by tobacco companies. METHODS: Internet, radio, television, print, and web-based display advertisements between January 2019 and March 2020 for 6 brands of nicotine pouches and lozenges were identified through commercially available marketing surveillance systems supplemented by a manual search of trade press and a review of brand websites. A total of 711 advertisements (122 unique) were analyzed to identify characteristics, themes, marketing strategies, and target audiences, and qualitatively compared by brand. All 5 brand websites were also analyzed. Coders examined the entirety of each advertisement or website for products, marketing claims, and features and recorded the presence or absence of 27 marketing claims and lifestyle elements. RESULTS: All 6 brands of nicotine pouch products spent a total of US $11.2 million on advertising in 2019, with the most (US $10.7 million) spent by the brand Velo, and 86.1% (n=105) of the unique advertisements were web-based. Of the 711 total nicotine pouch advertisements run in 2019, the 2 brands Velo (n=407, 57%) and ZYN (n=303, 42%) dominated. These brands also made the greatest number of advertising claims in general. These claims focused on novelty, modernity, and use in a variety of contexts, including urban contexts, workplaces, transportation, and leisure activities. Of the 122 unique advertisements, ZYN's most common claims were to be "tobacco-free," featuring many flavors or varieties, and modern. Velo was the only brand to include urban contexts (n=14, 38.9% of advertisements) or freedom (n=8, 22.2%); Velo advertisements portrayed use in the workplace (n=15, 41.7%), bars or clubs (n=5, 13.9%), leisure activities (n=4, 11.1%), transportation (n=4, 11.1%), sports (n=3, 8.3%), cooking (n=2, 5.6%), and with alcohol (n=1, 2.8%). Velo and ZYN also included most of the images of people, including women and people of color. The 36 Velo ads included people in advertising in 77.8% (n=28) of advertisements, and of those advertisements with identifiable people, 40% (n=4) were young adults and 50% (n=5) were middle-aged. About one-third (n=11, 35.5%) of the 31 unique ZYN advertisements included people, and most identifiable models appeared to be young adults. Brands such as Rogue, Revel, Dryft, and on! focused mainly on product features. All nicotine pouch products made either tobacco-free, smoke-free, spit-free, or vape-free claims. The most common claim overall was "tobacco-free," found in advertisements from Rogue (1/1, 100%), ZYN (30/31, 96.8%), Velo (19/36, 52.8%), and Dryft (1/3, 33.3%), but not Revel. CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine pouches and lozenges may expand the nicotine market as tobacco-free claims alleviate concerns about health harms and advertising features a greater diversity of people and contexts than typical smokeless tobacco advertising. The market leaders and highest-spending brands, ZYN and Velo, included more lifestyle claims. Surveillance of nicotine pouch marketing and uptake, including influence on tobacco use behaviors, is necessary.

Packaging Characteristics of Top-Selling Cigars in the United States, 2018.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco product packaging is an influential industry marketing tool, but research on cigar packaging characteristics is limited. This study leveraged a pack archive of the top-selling, mass-market cigar products in the US and their corresponding sales data to assess the prevalence of common pack features in the marketplace. METHODS: The 50 cigar products with the highest national unit sales in 2018 were identified using Nielsen's Scantrack data. A content analysis captured common packaging features within four domains: physical, textual, graphical, and promotional elements. Descriptive statistics, weighted by each pack's 2018 unit sales, documented the market share of pack characteristics overall and by brand. RESULTS: Products in the sample constituted 62% of all convenience store cigar sales in 2018. Black & Mild, the most popular brand, did not display warning labels on its single stick, cellophane-wrapped products, which constituted nearly all of its sales (96.3%). Resealable foil pouches were the most common packaging style across other brands, and were most often sold in predominantly red, green, or silver packaging. Common flavor categories included concept (eg, "Jazz", 32.4%), fruit (15.7%), and sweet (14.5%). Prepricing (eg, "2 for 99 cents") was a popular promotional strategy, appearing on 74% of all packs sold. CONCLUSIONS: Cigar packaging features such as small pack sizes, innovative materials, flavor names, bright colors, and cost-saving promotions are prevalent among the top-selling products. Stronger packaging-focused policies at the federal and local levels may help reduce appeal and potentially curb cigar use. IMPLICATIONS: Sales of mass-market cigars in the US have remained strong over the past decade, propelled by lax product regulations. This study demonstrated that cigar packaging features that may enhance consumer appeal, such as small pack sizes, flavor names, sensory descriptors, bright colors, and cost-saving promotions, are prevalent among the top-selling products. Stronger packaging-focused policies at the federal and local levels may help curb cigar use, reduce youth appeal, and potentially minimize existing disparities in cigar use.

Trends in Overall and Menthol Market Shares of Leading Cigarette Brands in the USA: 2014-2019.

Many factors can shift cigarette brand preference, and surveillance is an important tactic to inform regulatory strategy. The objective of this study was to identify shifts in top brands' overall and menthol market share from 2014 to 2019. We used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health public use datasets, which are a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of people aged 12+ in the USA. In our analysis of top brands, we accounted for consumption patterns and computed the percent change in market share for each brand. We observed that overall market share declined for nearly all brands, though top moderately priced brands gained share. Half of the top brands with menthol styles grew in menthol market share. We observed three primary shifts in the cigarette market: brands that gained the most menthol market share were brands with both menthol and non-menthol in their product lineups; menthol contributed substantially to discount brands' market share increases; the two premium brands that employed "natural" descriptors experienced increased market share. Research should continue to focus on trends that influence cigarette market share, as the cigarette market in the USA is likely to look very different in five years than it does today.

Internalizing problems are associated with initiation and past 30-Day use of flavored tobacco products.

OBJECTIVE: Tobacco use remains disproportionately common among adults with internalizing problems. The rising prevalence of flavored tobacco use among this population may be a contributing factor. Using data from Wave 4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, this study examined differences across adult ever tobacco users by severity of internalizing problems, in initiation of tobacco use with a flavored product and past 30-day (current) flavored tobacco use (n = 27,425). Severity of internalizing problems was measured using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs-Short Screener Internalizing Disorder Screener. Tobacco use variables included initiation with or current use of a flavored product, assessed separately for each product. Weighted chi-square tests and multivariable modified Poisson regression models were used to examine the associations between severity of internalizing problems and each outcome. RESULTS: Controlling for covariates, ever users with severe internalizing problems were more likely to have initiated with flavors for cigarettes (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]: 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09,1.24), cigarillos (aPR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.16), electronic nicotine products (aPR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.13) and smokeless tobacco (aPR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.27), relative to those with low internalizing problems. Ever users with severe internalizing problems were more likely to currently use a flavored tobacco product for cigarettes (aPR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.24) and cigarillos (aPR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.28). CONCLUSIONS: Flavored tobacco use seems disproportionately common among tobacco users with severe internalizing problems, across a variety of measures.