Why Big Tobacco Will Never Die
- Makayla Woods
- Aug 2, 2019
- 3 min read
Drugs. That was the overarching topic of Wednesdays class. We discussed Opium, the milky substance from the Poppy plant, which is the foundation for most synthetic drugs and is addictive. We also chatted about the first so called "ethnic drug" BiDil, which was a prescription heart-failure medication targeted at the African American Community. But the drug that most caught my attention was Tobacco. You may not realize it but, Tobacco has a long history in America, predating Columbus' 'discovery' in 1492. It was used by Natives Americans for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. By 1619 it was The Colony's largest export and soon fueled the demand of slavery in North America.
Tobacco was then widely used for pipes, snuff, and chewing. Popularity of cigarettes wasn't widespread until James Buchanan Duke and James Bonsack teamed up in the 1880's. Buchanan Duke was big in the business of hand-rolled cigarettes and Bonsack invented the early cigarette rolling machine dubbed "The Bonsack Machine." Their partnership essentially led to the creation of the American Tobacco Company which was headed by Buchanan Duke himself. To get more people to purchase these cigarettes Buchanan Duke included something similar to a trading card in each pack. This was widely successful as it incentivized American smokers to buy more and more cigarettes so they could collect each card. We later see a similar idea emerge with baseball trading cards and Pokemon cards (whose slogan is literally "gotta catch them all"). More importantly, the cards grabbed the attention of young kids and teens who had never smoked before, thus getting a new generation addicted to cigarettes.
When I heard this in class I instantly made a connection to a similar phenomenon happening right now among my generation: Teens and kids who have never smoked before trying e-cigarettes.
E-Cigarettes are battery operated devices that emit vaporized nicotine, although there are some non-nicotine options. They come in a variety of styles, some even resembling pens and flash drives.
Initially marketed as another option for smokers to replace tobacco but still get their nicotine fix, E-Cigarettes or Vapes have become widely popular. In 2016, 3.2% of adults in the US were using them. And in 2018, 1 in 20 adults regularly vaped in the US. However the growing concern has been about the use of Vapes among teens and kids. In 2016 over 2 million middle and high school students had tired e-cigarettes. And out of that 2 million, 40% of them had never been smokers beforehand. You can learn more about prevalence of vaping and other drugs among kids in this Monitoring The Future Study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse by clicking here.
So why increasingly are so many teens trying e-cigarettes?
Many attribute this rapid growth to the e-cigarette brand Juul. Founded by two former-smokers from Stanford, the company set out to improve "the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers." They did this by applying a sleek new design to a product that hadn't changed very much in several years. The end result was something that looked much more like a flash drive or a tech device than it did a e-cigarette. Additionally, one pod, which comes in multiple flavors ranging from Mint to Mango to Crème Brûlée, contains as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
So Juul's addictive nature combined with how modern it looks is part of the reason so many teens gravitated towards it. Additionally, and most importantly, Juul's early ads from 2015 are almost identical to old cigarette ads that targeted young people.
In their "Vaporized" campaign they show 20-something models with Juuls in hand and having a good time. And by having so many flavor options, they seem to want kids and teens hooked on their vape and not the adults they claim is their audience. The company also utilized social media, heavily used by young people, to promote their product through regular posts and by using influencers - people who have large followings.
These strong parallels have led me to the conclusion that Big Tobacco, in a sense, will never die. Just when it seemed like we would see the first generation who wasn't addicted to cigarettes, a new product popped up that targeted young people. Young people who will become addicted, grow up, and continue to purchase these products for their entire lives.
This prompts the question, What will be next device that "Big Tobacco will market to keep their pockets fat?
Be sure to check out the forum for more information!
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