Category: opinion

  • The Zyn Marketing Fallacy

    The Zyn Marketing Fallacy

    Photo: Swedish Match North America

    Blaming the manufacturers for irresponsible marketing is a red herring.

    By Peter Clark

    The social media presence of nicotine pouches has recently come under fire from public health experts. For example, Jai Surana believes that “aggressive marketing” has contributed to the spike in popularity in this product category.

    Some perceive that nicotine pouches and e-cigarette markers present their products as a safe alternative to tobacco. With this perception of tobacco substitutes, coupled with the appealing variety of flavors, many are worried that kids will start using these products. Zyn’s robust meme culture and numerous influencers only fuel misconceptions about its marketing.

    Contrary to the immersive online subculture of Zyn, nicotine pouches are not an exploding health epidemic among teens. The headlines of the droves of nicotine-addicted youth are exaggerations.

    Blaming the manufacturers for irresponsible marketing is nothing but a red herring. Because most nicotine users are adults, many content producers are unaffiliated with producers, and the marketing hasn’t effectively targeted teens.

    Despite the public health crusade to shield children from nicotine pouch advertisements on social media, only a minority of kids are using these products. The largest demographic for nicotine pouches is the “35–45” age group, making up 60 percent of the market. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most pouch users are either current or former smokers. Most of the evidence suggests that most Zyn users are adults trying to quit smoking or are getting their nicotine fix when smoking isn’t an option.

    How many kids use nicotine pouches? The number of teens using these products is minuscule. In 2024, only 1.8 percent of “middle school and high school students reported currently using nicotine pouches.” This pales in comparison to the significantly higher numbers of teens smoking in the 1990s. A jaw-dropping 16.8 percent of high school students were “frequent smokers” in 1999. This was still only a minority of teens but significantly higher than the number of kids currently using nicotine pouches.

    Yes, nicotine pouches have social media sites, but what about the third-party content producers? There is a lot of finger-wagging at nicotine pouch companies for Instagram posts lacking warning labels, but will a Zyn fan account adhere to market guidelines? The problem is that internet culture tends to take on a life of its own. The marketing edicts of the Food and Drug Administration are not even a forethought to most Zyn enthusiasts making humorous memes.

    There is no way to limit or regulate third-party content. The best companies can do is comply with the current laws and acknowledge that nicotine is addictive on official social media content. Attempting to shut down all third-party content is a game of whack-a-mole. For example, Juul failed at many attempts to remove underage fan sites from social media.

    Even the high-profile Zyn influencers, from Joe Rogan to Tucker Carlson, are unaffiliated with the brand. Philip Morris International hasn’t paid anyone to promote its pouches. PMI spokesman Corey Henry has stated, “Zyn doesn’t have partnerships or product promotion with any social media influencers or celebrities.” Before Carlson’s culture war on Zyn and his recent venture into the market, PMI tried to distance itself from his more outlandish claims about the product.

    As mentioned previously, youth nicotine pouch use is low. However, has the social media market influenced teen use? Less than half of teens and young adults surveyed in a Georgetown study were even aware of the existence of this product. Less than a quarter of nontobacco-using participants were familiar with nicotine pouches. If Zyn is trying to market its pouches to young people, their plan has failed. Only young people predisposed to using nicotine are familiar with nicotine pouches.

    At first glance, it is easy to attack nicotine pouch brands like Zyn for irresponsible marketing, but it is not the crisis that experts and the press are making it out to be.

    Only a small number of teens are using nicotine pouches, most of the egregiously irresponsible “marketing” is coming from third-party creators, and there is little evidence that the official product marketing is pushing kids toward nicotine pouches. If we want to protect kids from nicotine addiction, we should attack the social issues driving them to use nicotine, not flashy marketing.

    Peter Clark is a fellow with the World Vapers’ Alliance. You can follow him on X at @blog_logic.
  • Menthol Marketing Orders ‘Significant Step’

    Menthol Marketing Orders ‘Significant Step’

    By Robert Burton

    Vapes are a powerful tool for adult smokers making the transition from cigarettes to reduced-risk products (RRP). The category is governed by market-specific regulation, often influencing public perception and, therefore, uptake.

    Last week, following an extensive scientific review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of four menthol-flavored e-cigarette products for Altria-owned vaping company Njoy. This is a watershed moment for the sector and one which will have a huge and significant impact on the global RRP market.

    This announcement signifies the FDA’s acknowledgment that menthol vaping products have the potential to be an important and effective tool for adult smokers looking for reduced-risk alternatives. This is significant for the wider sector in a number of ways; above all, it sets a precedent for other markets, paving the way for other regulators, particularly those looking at bans, to consider flavors in the context of public health.

    Across the globe, we are seeing an increasing number of markets introduce bans on flavors on a precautionary basis in a bid to mitigate youth uptake. At Plxsur, we have long advocated against the ban of flavors on vape products, arguing that it has the potential to negatively impact those making the transition from conventional cigarettes, who often are drawn to vapes for their flavor, amongst other factors such as price and convenience. There are also arguments and emerging evidence that flavor bans drive the black market sale of unregulated, dangerous products.

    There will be many that, understandably, say this decision is “too little, too late,” but it is nonetheless encouraging to see the FDA, with its extensive science and evidence-based review, validating that with effective regulation and enforcement, flavored vape products are “in the interest of public health.” Those countries that have considered flavor bans should look to the U.S. and conclude that it can’t be justified from a scientific review perspective.

    While this is the first authorization of a “characterizing flavor” by the FDA for vaping products, two of the major regulatory influencing bodies, the FDA and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), now acknowledge that there is value in non-tobacco-flavored vaping products.

    This decision has the potential to impact the world. The U.S. has long influenced international markets, so it sets a benchmark that we expect other, less vape-supportive governments and regulatory bodies will follow.  

    Rob Burton

    In Italy, tobacco-flavored vapes constitute 40% of the vape market, while menthol represents 21%.[1] This demonstrates the significance of flavored products in the market as a whole. If such flavors were to be banned, this would act as a barrier for smokers to move to reduced-risk alternatives and potentially lead vapers to return to cigarettes.

    In some geographies, it is great to see that vapes are being accepted as an effective alternative to conventional cigarettes, even this week’s news from Australia announcing that vapes – which until now have only been available through prescription – will soon be available for sale within pharmacies without the need for a prescription, offering an effective pathway to end the smoking epidemic in the country.

    As we anticipate the potential revision of the Tobacco Product Directive Review next year, the justification for banning flavors, from a scientific point of view, simply isn’t there. In the case of Njoy, this has been shown through closed-system pod-based devices, which offer a more cost-effective avenue for existing smokers and disposable systems while incorporating child lock systems that will restrict access to children, as is already applied by a Plxsur company, ProVape, in its SALT and KUBIK brands.

    While the FDA’s authorization is specific to these four products made and sold by Njoy and does not apply to any other menthol-flavored e-cigarettes, our expectation is this will open a channel for other such products to achieve authorization by providing the necessary framework and the potential for knowledge-sharing and guidance. With the weight of data-led evidence, the category can advocate for the democratization of this framework, enabling further regulatory authorizations for products produced by responsible vaping companies in the interest of the adult smoker.  

    At Plxsur, we have a clear purpose – to facilitate adult smokers to make positive health decisions by transitioning away from cigarettes to reduced-risk products. Flavor is a key factor in supporting smokers moving completely to such alternatives, and we look forward to seeing a more science and data-led approach being adopted across all markets as we work to save the lives of those impacted by smoking, mitigate the risk of youth uptake, and do so sustainably and responsibly.

    We view this FDA decision as a significant step forward in broadening the pathway for adult smokers, and previously lacking “off-ramp” for U.S. menthol smokers looking to make the switch, which, according to Public Health England, is 95% less harmful and, therefore, undeniably, “in the interest of public health.”[2]

    Robert Burton is Group Scientific and Regulatory director for Plxsur.

    [1] The Global Vaping Market: A Plxsur Snapshot

    [2] E-cigarettes: an evidence update: A report commissioned by Public Health England