While PMI claims that IQOS is only for adult smokers, the leaked marketing document suggests PMJ was vying to reach a much broader audience for its new addictive product to help “accelerate acquisition” of new IQOS users. This adds to a body of evidence showing that PMI markets IQOS in ways that appeal to the general public, not just smokers. Previous investigative reporting suggests IQOS is marketed toward young people and even schoolchildren.
The PMJ document also confirms that PMJ was working to sustain its position as the second-biggest seller of cigarettes in Japan while promoting its ‘smoke-free’ narrative.
According to the document, PMJ appears to lobby for IQOS use to be permitted in places where smoking is banned, for endorsements of the industry’s unproven claims around harm reduction, and for HTPs to be taxed at a favorable rate to ensure affordability. Targets for endorsements included politicians, medical groups, Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency, and hospitality groups which, if secured, could give the appearance of organic, widespread acceptance of IQOS. Aiming to have a presence at the Tokyo Olympics echoes a known industry tactic of advertising addictive, harmful tobacco products at sports events- associating these products with health, misleading consumers, and reaching children and young people.
“It’s increasingly clear that Philip Morris International’s latest promises cannot be taken at face value,” said Jorge Alday, Director at STOP. “PMI’s intentions with IQOS seem to extend far beyond what they’ve stated, and the idea to promote it via the Tokyo Olympics is just one glaring example. This revelation adds weight to the mounting evidence questioning the credibility of PMI’s claims about their intentions and their products. Disturbingly, it hints at a broader pattern of deceptive tactics, potentially laying the groundwork for a new chapter in the tobacco epidemic.”
The STOP analysis cites media reports that suggest PMI may be attempting to cultivate similar influence in other countries, with outreach to government ministers and local councils in the U.K., a national network of lobbyists in the U.S., plans to sell IQOS in pubs, bars and clubs in Australia, targeting of the tourism and hospitality industry in Greece, and attempts to recruit dentists as IQOS advocates in Germany.
Other Leaked Documents Raise Concerns About Covertly Funded Science in Japan
Additional documents from Philip Morris Japan revealed covertly funded research conducted before and in the same timeframe as the marketing document. An analysis of those documents by researchers at the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath was published today in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. They show the company covertly funded a study by Japanese academics and hired a Japanese life science consultancy to undertake extensive science-adjacent work in order to create a favorable environment for IQOS.
“Biased science and scientific messages muddy the information environment, making it harder for policymakers and the public to make informed choices,” said Dr. Sophie Braznell, Research Associate at the University of Bath’s Department for Health and lead author of the academic paper. “Evidence continues to emerge contradicting PMI’s claims that the company and its products can reduce smoking and its related harms. Consumers, scientists, journalists and policy makers should be extremely skeptical of PMI, its science and its so-called “reduced risk” products.”
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