Philip Morris [Marlboro maker] launches anti-smoking campaign - accused of hypocrisy .

[cupid_stunt]

Well, this is a strange one, on a par with turkeys' voting for Christmas.

They are spunking £2m on a anti-smoking campaign in the UK, kicking off with a wraparound on today's Daily Mirror & a video ad that spoofs Mission Impossible.

One of the world's biggest tobacco firms, Philip Morris, has been accused of "staggering hypocrisy" over its new ad campaign that urges smokers to quit.

The Marlboro maker said the move was "an important next step" in its aim to "ultimately stop selling cigarettes".

But Cancer Research UK said the firm was just trying to promote its smoking alternatives, such as heated tobacco.

"This is a staggering hypocrisy," it said, pointing out the firm still promotes smoking outside the UK.

Tobacco firm attacked for anti-smoking ad





I am not sure what to make of this, seems a very odd thing for them to be doing.

 

[Pickman's model]

 

[Yossarian]

I think they're just moving with the times - younger people are now probably more likely to get addicted to vaping tobacco products than to smoking cigarettes, and many of their older customers seem to be dying off mysteriously. Also they may have lost some kind of lawsuit.

 

[skyscraper101]

Big market in vapes and e-cigs.

Not unlike BP and Shell with all their green energy ads. Just tapping into the declining market's potential.

 

[mrs quoad]

Tobacco companies know that cigarettes are dying.

That’s why they’ve bought into new alternatives, using the finance from killing people in old fashioned ways to ensure total market dominance of new nicotine markets. Their future revenue relies on making that switch effectively - no tobacco company will survive if it’s just churning out smokes.

This can be seen as a very effective brand positioning exercise, giving PM apparent credibility and an all new ethical face. Or it could be entirely about driving sales of their smokeless alternatives.

Is this about them voting for Christmas?



Probably not. Watch out for the plummet, ay.

 

[The Octagon]

Watch them get straight in on legal weed if they think it'll keep profits up.

Business does business shocker.

 

[butchersapron]

Some proper title gore there - what about Marlboro launch anti-smoking campaign - that would have done the job.

 

[brogdale]

Disappointed it didn't start "Corporate cancer cunts create confusing campaign..."
What's this place coming to?

 

[DotCommunist]

Big market in vapes and e-cigs.

Not unlike BP and Shell with all their green energy ads. Just tapping into the declining market's potential.

that BP cunt keeps popping up in my twitter feed asking the question 'are algae biofuels the future?'. Greenwashing.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Couple of thoughts. They've found a way to get around advertising bans and place their name in the papers. Also showing a lighter in some hands like that is very suggestive of smoking. Putting the idea of smoking in someone's head (and using an image of an attractive young smoker, natch), even if it's proposing that you should stop, is still probably going to make an addict likely to feel the urge to smoke.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Big market in vapes and e-cigs.

Not unlike BP and Shell with all their green energy ads. Just tapping into the declining market's potential.

As far as I can tell their product - the iQOS - is not a vape it's essentially heated tobacco. So I would argue they are trying to insert their product into a different place in the market. Vapes are an alternative to ciggies/an aid to packing up. The IQOS is essentially smoking cigarettes but re-branded as smoking an e-cigarette

 

[littlebabyjesus]

As far as I can tell their product - the iQOS - is not a vape it's essentially heated tobacco. So I would argue they are trying to insert their product into a different place in the market. Vapes are an alternative to ciggies/an aid to packing up. The IQOS is essentially smoking cigarettes but re-branded as smoking an e-cigarette

I've just twigged what that is. I've seen a few around and not known what they were. Knew they weren't vaping but not quite what else it was.

Anecdotally, when I was in Japan last year, I was surprised to see almost nobody vaping, but I did see a few people doing this. Fags are very cheap in Japan - about 2 or 3 quid a pack - but smoking is banned on many streets (not, bizarrely, indoors - you have to nip into a bar to smoke), so I had expected to see more vaping than I did.

Very good point - if they want to get people doing this, first they need to let people know that it exists. Suspect they're too late.

 

[Poi E]

PM are working on a project on some new vaporisation of tobacco vape stick. No combustion.

 

[mrs quoad]

As far as I can tell their product - the iQOS - is not a vape it's essentially heated tobacco. So I would argue they are trying to insert their product into a different place in the market. Vapes are an alternative to ciggies/an aid to packing up. The IQOS is essentially smoking cigarettes but re-branded as smoking an e-cigarette

They also sell vapes.

E-cigarettes

Those are the obvious links (IQOS and MESH) but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they also had controlling shares in / ownership of other alternative fag companies, with the relationship purposefully obfuscated.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Anyone used an IQOS? I'm guessing they're crap.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

They also sell vapes.

E-cigarettes

Those are the obvious links (IQOS and MESH) but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they also had controlling shares in / ownership of other alternative fag companies, with the relationship purposefully obfuscated.

They do sell the MESH but the IQOS is being marketed far far more than their e-cig. They have invested Billions in it.

PM want smokers to 'give up' smoking tobacco by erm heating tobacco dipped in PG. They, of course, will happily continue to sell you refills of the IQOS which contains both tobacco and nicotine. This is not vaping and I am also unclear as to how this breaks the addiction to nicotine and tobacco.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

They do sell the MESH but the IQOS is being marketed far far more than their e-cig. They have invested Billions in it.

PM want smokers to 'give up' smoking tobacco by erm heating tobacco dipped in PG. They, of course, will happily continue to sell you refills of the IQOS which contains both tobacco and nicotine. This is not vaping and I am also unclear as to how this breaks the addiction to nicotine and tobacco.

It doesn't break the addiction to nicotine. That's the point, no - changing your nicotine administration mechanism to maintain the addiction with less damage. Same with vaping, tbf.

 

[dervish]

Anecdotally, when I was in Japan last year, I was surprised to see almost nobody vaping, but I did see a few people doing this. Fags are very cheap in Japan - about 2 or 3 quid a pack - but smoking is banned on many streets (not, bizarrely, indoors - you have to nip into a bar to smoke), so I had expected to see more vaping than I did.

There is a weird thing about smoking and vaping in Japan, putting nicotine in vape liquids is illegal over there so there hasn't been much of a market. Additionally there are cultural things about the smell of smoking, it's very much frowned upon, so smoking isn't that popular. Blu are in the middle of their launch over there for nicotine free, nice smelling vapes, but they have been advertised on the basis that it doesn't smell horrible. Apparently it's going down pretty well.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

There is a weird thing about smoking and vaping in Japan, putting nicotine in vape liquids is illegal over there so there hasn't been much of a market.

So I was carrying contraband through customs? That does explain it.

Smoking is pretty popular still, though, in Japan. And you can still smoke in many bars, which just seems weird now. You get really stinky smoking stations every so often along the street. One thing that is very striking is that it is nearly all men standing in them.

Japan's tobacco industry is partly state-owned, so I wouldn't trust the motives behind many of the laws there, particularly the one restricting vaping.

 

[Badgers]

Anyone used an IQOS? I'm guessing they're crap.

I have got a few and like them



Did a bit of business with them on the IQOS product and they are promoting it as 'smoke free' which is technically right. They are still cunts of course but then some of us idiots still smoke

 

[Smokeandsteam]

It doesn't break the addiction to nicotine. That's the point, no - changing your nicotine administration mechanism to maintain the addiction with less damage. Same with vaping, tbf.

Vaping does offer 0mg nicotine options. In fact most e-liquid requires nicotine shots to be added to it. Vaping products also don't contain tobacco.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Vaping does offer 0mg nicotine options. In fact most e-liquid requires nicotine shots to be added to it. Vaping products also don't contain tobacco.

Yeah, but again anecdotally, most people I know who vape use nicotine. I don't really see the point in 0mg options tbh. And vaping very much maintains the addiction.

 

[dervish]

Yeah, but again anecdotally, most people I know who vape use nicotine. I don't really see the point in 0mg options tbh. And vaping very much maintains the addiction.

There is a big difference to the addiction to nicotine and tobacco I found. I can stop vaping whenever I want with no real affect. Smoking was something I needed to do, it has huge physical and psychological effects on me, I got proper cravings and very moody, with vaping it's not the same thing at all.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

There is a big difference to the addiction to nicotine and tobacco I found. I can stop vaping whenever I want with no real affect. Smoking was something I needed to do, it has huge physical and psychological effects on me, I got proper cravings and very moody, with vaping it's not the same thing at all.

Precisely. Vaping is different - it feels different and the technique and so on is not the same as smoking. The iQOS is, I understand, very very similar to smoking and vapers who have tried it report that psychologically it feels like smoking.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I don't get quite the same physical craving from vaping, and I'm not gasping for a vape after several hours of not vaping. I do still crave it, though, and the nicotine hit after a few hours off is very pleasurable. I'll get twitchy if I can't vape for a long period.

 

[dervish]

I vape with very low concentrations of nicotine anyway (use an RDA) and I was vaping a liquid I found at work, vaping it all evening as it tastes nice, only realised when I was going to bed that it was 0mg.

Didn't notice, but as soon as I realised I had a good lungful of 3mg, wasn't craving but it was my immediate reaction.

 

[editor]

Fun fact!

The cigarette was indeed named after Great Marlborough Street. Phillip Morris had a successful tobacconist shop in Bond Street where he sold his own Phillip Morris brand of cigarettes. After his death (of lung cancer, ironically) his Brother Leopold and his widow Margaret continued the business and opened a factory in Great Marlborough Street, still using the Phillip Morris brand name. In 1908 they opened a branch in New York where their cigarettes were marketed as Marlboro, having been advised that Americans would get confused by the difference in the way Marlborough was spelt and how it is pronounced.

Marlboro - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org