RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 IQOS is not an acronym: a call to researchers and journals
JF Tobacco Control
JO Tob Control
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 356
OP 358
DO 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2019-055571
VO 30
IS 3
A1 Seidenberg, Andrew
A1 Freeman, Becky
YR 2021
UL http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/30/3/356.abstract
AB In 2014, Philip Morris International (PMI) introduced the IQOS heated tobacco product system. It has been widely reported in the media that IQOS is an acronym for 'I quit ordinary smoking'. To our knowledge, PMI has never publicly used any acronym to describe or market IQOS. Moreover, PMI has repeatedly denied that IQOS is an acronym. The acronym, which is an implicit cessation claim, has also appeared in numerous peer-reviewed publications. While the origins of the acronym are unknown, PMI stands to benefit from the publicity and associated positive connotations. It is possible that early adopters of IQOS created the acronym online, which was then picked by reporters and the research community. Alternatively, given that tobacco manufacturers have used social media influencers to promote their products, it is also possible that PMI may have surreptitiously helped popularize the acronym. Regardless of its origin, researchers and journals should stop disseminating this internet myth that promotes a potentially misleading claim.There are no data in this work