A Harvard report was release this week that again is setting the tobacco world on fire. Well, at least figuratively. In the report, the compound Menthol was the focus, and it was concluded that by varying the amount of it in certain brands of cigarettes, tobacco companies could recruit and keep younger smokers and those who may have had an initial bad reaction to smoking upon starting the habit.The strategy was to "lock in lifelong adult smokers," said the researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. After all the past shenanigans that the tobacco industry has admitted to, it's not surprising to hear that using a varying chemical level strategy to recruit smokers and get them hooked was tried. It was found that milder cigarette brand with lower menthol levels were more appealing to younger smokers. hence, these products were marketed to that age group as a result, according to the report.
One particular example cited was the strategy Philip-Morris USA used when it introduced "Marlboro Milds" back in 2000. The product instantly became a hit with younger smokers was responsible for almost 80% of the menthol product category sales for the company that year.
Philip Morris USA said that "At our company, our marketing goal is to find way to effectively and responsibly connect brands with adults who smoke ... those brands are designed to meet the diverse preferences of adults who smoke. What we disagree with are the authors' conclusion that menthol levels were manipulated to gain market share among adolescents."
Lorillard, a smaller but still significant force in tobacco, took the strategy of taking issues with much of the report, citing the below in a pres release:
Lorillard does not control levels of menthol to promote smoking among adolescents and young adults. Furthermore, Lorillard does not engineer any of its cigarettes to promote smoking initiation or nicotine addiction. Importantly, the target menthol specifications for Newport have not changed at all since 2000.
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