UNFILTERED A revealing look at today s tobacco industry

UNFILTERED A revealing look at today’s tobacco industry Presented by [Add Your Name Here]

This report was prepared by…

Pop Quiz Question: Imagine that you are a major consumer products industry that is prohibited by law from advertising in traditional ways. How do you continue to reach customers?

Pop Quiz A. Manipulate products to make them more addictive? B. Redesign products/packaging to increase appeal? C. Identify loopholes in laws and exploit them? D. Positioning products as symbols of independence, cultural identity and freedom? E. Give away free samples and merchandise? F. Fund community programs to distract attention from your real business? G. All of the above?

Pop Quiz Answer: If you are the tobacco industry, The answer is “G. ”

By the Numbers The tobacco industry spends more than $190 million in Minnesota every year to create new smokers and hold on to those it already has addicted. We All Pay the Price Here in Minnesota: 634, 000 adults still smoke. 28. 4 percent of young adults (18 -24) are tobacco users. 85, 000 middle and high school students smoke. More than 5, 500 people die every year of diseases caused by tobacco use. Tobacco use = more than $2 billion in health care costs.

What is Unfiltered? A spotlight on a tobacco industry reinvented for the 21 st Century. *Unfiltered: A Revealing Look at Today’s Tobacco Industry is a project of Clear. Way Minnesota.

What is Unfiltered? Unfiltered makes tobacco industry’s role part of the discussion: Reveal: new products, savvy marketing and image campaigns Link: tobacco industry = tobacco use Remind: public health priority Highlight: tobacco costs too much Create involvement: learn, look, talk, act

Unfiltered Key Findings The tobacco industry is resilient and creative in the face of public health successes and despite public opinion against tobacco use. The tobacco industry is actively working to counter health messages and increase tobacco use.

The Rules May Change… For the past 100 years, the tobacco industry has focused on five key strategies, these remain just as effective today. … But the Game is the Same Make tobacco use part of our cultural landscape. Attract and retain customers through targeted marketing. Use public relations to counter laws, lawsuits and health claims. Reinvent brands/products to adapt to a changing landscape. Look for markets outside the United States.

Cultural Integration

Cultural Integration Tobacco use is a social phenomenon largely propelled by mass media over the past century, led by tobacco industry professionals who constantly change strategies to reach their goals. They combine the resourcefulness of a profit-making industry with a changing media and regulatory landscape to sell a product that remains our greatest public health challenge. We will not remove tobacco from our society unless we are willing to understand the industry’s constantly changing tactics. Dr. Tim Johnson, ABC News Medical Editor, August 2008

Cultural Integration …Thank you for the box of your products. Everyone was digging through the box looking for their favorite cigars and dip. . . . I know you will definitely have some loyal customers from our unit once we get back to the States. - An American serviceman in Iraq, writing to Swisher International in 2005 Free tobacco distributed to soldiers during wars. Smoking as a symbol of women’s liberation and independence.

Cultural Integration Celebrity endorsements “Just What the Doctor Ordered. ’” - L&M slogan Doctors’ endorsements to quell health concerns “More Doctors Smoke Camels” - “R. J. Reynolds slogan

Cultural Integration I said, “What’s the most masculine symbol you can think of? ” And right off the top of his head, one of these writers spoke up and said a cowboy. And I said, “That’s for sure. ” - Advertising executive Leo Burnett, whose agency created the Marlboro Man as a symbol of rugged independence. Tobacco products placed in movies, television shows and video games.

Target Marketing, PR and Innovation

Target Marketing In 2007, the tobacco industry spent $12. 8 billion marketing its products in the U. S. decades after it was barred from placing ads on TV. “Wherever Particular People Congregate” Tobacco companies are considered the most able marketers in the world, and for good reason: Brilliant developers of symbols and slogans Lots of $$$ to work with

Target Marketing “Light and Luscious, ” “Now Available in Stiletto" “For the Most Fashion. Forward Woman” - Camel No. 9 slogans “Welcome to the Brotherhood” - Skoal slogan Women Equality Independence Beauty, fashion and glamour Weight control Men Strong/powerful Macho/rugged Sexually attractive

Target Marketing Racial and Ethnic Populations Culturally specific images Popular music Lifestyle of affluent African Americans Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Individuals 40 -70 percent more likely to smoke Placement of ads in GLBT publications We don’t smoke that sh*t, we just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid. - R. J. Reynolds executive, 1992

Target Marketing Movies With Smoking, 20002009: 102 Dalmatians Young People - targeting the psychological needs of adolescents Agent Cody Banks 2 Curious George The Fantastic Mr. Fox The Incredibles Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa The Sponge. Bob Square. Pants Movie Popularity/peer acceptance Positive self-image Appealing flavors/packaging Pop culture (movies/games)

Public Relations Corporate sponsorships Support events and social causes to get community support Use charitable giving to ward off regulations Image Campaigns: Keep America Beautiful Operation Ranger Philip Morris USA Quit. Assist In 1999, Philip Morris spent $100 million on a corporate image campaign to tout its charitable efforts – more than the $75 million it spent in actual donations.

Public Relations A dangerous mixed message to kids: It’s wrong to smoke cigarettes, but it’s OK to take money from the very industry that is trying to addict you. Kids - The most important image campaign of all. Hundreds of millions to youth groups. . . . by an industry committed to selling addictive products to them. Why? The future of the tobacco industry depends on its ability to attract a generation of new customers.

Global Opportunism [Philip Morris International] stock is going to be a cash cow. People in other countries smoke like chimneys. This company sells an addictive product legally. The dividends are high, profits are climbing. What’s not to like? The Motley Fool investment website, July 2009 International Markets—A New Frontier New Products for Overseas Markets: The global marketplace = clean slate for methods outlawed in the U. S. Products tailored for cultural integration Global Impact The WHO estimates more than 1 billion deaths from tobacco in the 21 st Century.

Point-of-Sale and Innovation

Point-of-Sale It’s strategically important for manufacturers to hook smokers as early as possible. The result: 80 -90 percent of smokers start before their 18 th birthday. Point-of-Sale Advertising and Promotion 83 percent of marketing budget Most spent on price promotions (BOGO, “buy-downs”) Placement: child’s eye level, where teens shop, low socioeconomic neighborhoods

Innovation Tobacco companies have more than quadrupled their advertising/ promotional spending for smokeless products, from $77 million to $354 million. “Join the Snus Revolution” Recent developments have changed the game for tobacco marketers: Widespread knowledge of the dangers of cigarettes Record low smoking rates and less smoking in public places Release of documents exposing tobacco industry deceptions and knowledge of tobacco’s harms The industry must rely on product innovation to attract and retain tobacco users.

Innovation Studies have shown that 17 -year -old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25. Not Your Grandparents’ Cigarette Americans gradually turning away from cigarettes Industry adding sweet flavors to appeal to younger palates “It Doesn’t Even Taste Like Tobacco” Products have strong, sweet, artificial flavors Designed to appeal to “young adults”

Innovation “They’re Not Cigarettes” Cigar manufacturers take advantage of FDA regulations by promoting “little cigars” Snus and Orbs, Sticks and Strips Smoking bans = whole new generation of tobacco products “Your flight just got canceled friendly, ” “ridiculously long conference call friendly” “fancy hotel friendly” “[Smokeless tobacco] is becoming more socially acceptable. ” - Dan Butler, president of U. S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, 2007

What can you do?

Action and Engagement Website Activities: View interactive vignettes § Download the full report and supporting materials § Post comments and share stories of tobacco marketing § Upload photos of tobacco marketing from your community § Become a Facebook Fan of We All Pay the Price for Tobacco § www. unfilteredmn. org

Contributing Partners The Association for Nonsmokers—Minnesota • Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Clarity Coverdale Fury • Giebink Design • Grassroots Solutions Himle Horner, Inc. • Minnesota Tobacco Document Depository Richard Hurt, M. D. , Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center • Julie Jensen Office of Tobacco Prevention and Control of the Minnesota Department of Health John Pickerill, Fredrikson & Byron • Public Health Law Center Robert Wood Johnson Foundation • Start Noticing Coalition • Sofia and Alison Stumpf Trinkets & Trash • Tunheim Partners • Olivia Wackowski

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