Tobacco Industry Claims About Transformation are Inconsistent With Combustible Cigarette Innovations: The Case of Flavor Capsule Cigarettes

Abstract

First paragraph: Tobacco companies maintain that they do not target their products at those under the minimum legal age of purchase, with some multinationals such as Philip Morris International (www.pmi.com/our-transformation/delivering-a-smoke-free-future) also publicly announcing their vision for a smoke-free future, and others, such as British American Tobacco (www.bat.com/strategy#) and Japan Tobacco International (www.jti.com/news-views/building-brighter-future) implicitly suggesting a move away from cigarettes by indicating a focus on reduced-risk products. It is argued that such rhetoric is solely about profit maximization, and the adoption of harm reduction in tobacco companies’ public relations initiatives and marketing communications cannot be achieved if new users and nicotine addicts are being brought into the market.1 Critical investigation of transformation claims suggests there is no evidence of substantial progress towards eliminating the production and sale of combustible tobacco products, or the design and marketing of youth-appealing products, or opposition to policies aimed at protecting the public.2 We add to this debate by describing how the promotion of flavor capsule cigarettes, a product with high youth appeal and one which is helping drive combustible tobacco sales, is antithetical to youth protection and industry transformation.