Article Text
Abstract
Background IQOS, manufactured by Philip Morris International (PMI), is the highest selling heated tobacco product globally. IQOS went through several regulatory changes in Israel: from no oversight to minimal tobacco legislation, to progressive legislation that included a partial advertisement ban (exempting print media) and plain packaging. We examined how PMI’s advertising messages changed during these regulatory periods for both IQOS and cigarettes.
Methods Content analysis of PMI’s IQOS and cigarette ads was performed using a predefined framework. Ad characteristics included regulatory period, target population, setting, product presentation, age and use restrictions, retail accessibility, additional detail cues (eg, QR code) and promotions. Ad themes included product features, legislation-related elements, social norms and comparative claims. Comparisons between IQOS and cigarette ads, and across regulatory periods, were examined using χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test.
Results The dataset included 125 IQOS ads and 71 cigarette ads. IQOS ads featured more age restrictions, retail accessibility and additional detail cues, compared with cigarette ads (93.6% vs 16.9%; 56.0% vs 0.0%; and 95.2% vs 33.8%, p<0.001 for all). Cigarette ads featured mostly price promotions (52.1% vs 10.1% of IQOS ads, p<0.001). The main ad themes were technology for IQOS (85.6%) and quality for cigarettes (50.7%). In later (vs earlier) restrictive regulatory periods, IQOS ads featured more direct comparisons to cigarettes, QR codes and indoor settings, and did not feature product packaging.
Conclusions IQOS advertisement content shifted as more restrictions went into effect, with several elements used to circumvent legislation. Findings from this study point to the necessity of a complete advertisement ban and ongoing marketing surveillance.
- Advertising and Promotion
- Electronic nicotine delivery devices
- Surveillance and monitoring
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Footnotes
Twitter @AmalKhayat5, @lorien_a, @yaelbarzeev
Contributors YB-Z, CJB, HL and AK designed the study. AK analysed the data under the guidance of YB-Z. AK and YB-Z wrote the draft manuscript. All coauthors reviewed and authorised the final manuscript. YB-Z oversaw the entire process, including the analysis and writing of the manuscript. AK and YB-Z are acting as the guarantors and accept full responsibility for the finished work and/or the conduct of the study, have access to the data and control the decision to publish.
Funding This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01 1R01CA239178-01A1; MPIs: CJB, HL).
Competing interests YB-Z has received fees for lectures in the past (2012 to July 2019) from Pfizer, Novartis NCH and GSK Consumer Health (distributors of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy in Israel). HL had received fees for lectures from Pfizer Israel (distributor of a smoking cessation pharmacotherapy in Israel) in 2017. LA receives royalties for the sale of Text2Quit.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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