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With an ice-white smile to her 50,000 TikTok followers, a fresh-faced young woman shoves a flavored nicotine sachet into her mouth, while one of Pakistan’s most popular love songs plays in the background.
More than 3,000 miles away in Sweden, another social media star lip-syncs the camera to a different pop tune. The same sachets, made by British American Tobacco, appear in the shot.
Critics say those viral videos, even if they aren’t paid ads, are the consequence of a global marketing push designed to offset the decline in cigarette use by recruiting the nicotine users of the future.
BAT has embarked on a £ 1 billion campaign that harnesses the popular appeal of social media influencers, pop stars and sporting events.
According to a comprehensive report from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, it has also attracted younger adults, non-smokers, and has even reached the eyes of children.
An employee of a public relations firm hired by BAT in Kenya was so concerned by the office’s report on its marketing practices that he offered a journalist a bribe to obtain inside information about it.
BAT has cut ties with the company in question and is investigating the incident. But he’s backing the marketing practices he hopes will capture the fast-growing revenue stream from e-cigarettes and vaporizers, not to mention the nicotine bags loved by TikTok influencers.
BAT places great importance on how these products are helping adult smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives, under the motto “A better tomorrow”.
By 2023, the company hopes to target 500 million nicotine users with £ 100 billion a year to spend. Products other than cigarettes are driving much of that growth.
Financial results released last week showed an annual pre-tax profit of £ 8.7bn as “non-fuel” products started contributing to earnings for the first time. The number of customers using them increased from 3 million to 13.5 million as the pandemic triggered a migration from cigarettes to more lung-friendly nicotine delivery methods.
However, these products are far from risk-free and the tendency to promote them through social media and popular influencers is cause for concern.
TikTok videos with attractive young people promoting BAT’s nicotine bags, under the Velo and Lyft brands, seem to have done particularly well with young people. The caption for a Swedish TikTok video featuring Lyft bags prominently reads: “All basic female dogs in Sweden between the ages of 14 and 23.” Clad in futuristic packaging, they look like a cool alternative to the more traditional “Snus” tobacco bags.
An 18-year-old told the office that half of the girls in his class were using Lyft, which they found much more attractive, in part thanks to paid partnerships with Instagram influencers. “Lyft has a great influencer aura,” he said.
Lyft is tobacco free, but does contain nicotine, making it an 18+ product. However, several TikTok videos show Swedes who appear to be of school age using them. The #lyftsnus hashtag has nearly 13 million views.
In the US and Europe, BAT has informed regulators that nicotine products are intended to help adult smokers replace cigarettes. That’s somewhat at odds with a slide from a 2019 investor presentation, titled “The Nicotine Consumer Group Continues to Grow.”
It shows that the number of nicotine users declined until 2012, before rebounding strongly. The slide boasts of “8m NGP [next-generation product] consumers added in 2017 ”.
The company certainly seems to be looking for new nicotine users, rather than just people to quit smoking.
His marketing campaign for Velo in Pakistan, using the hashtag #openthecan on Facebook and Instagram, used 40 influencers, garnering more than 13 million views.
In Spain, a campaign for BAT Glo’s hot tobacco product has been led by the boy band Dvicio, via Instagram and a series of concerts. The “boys” are in their 20s and 30s, but they were last year’s summer cover stars for Tween magazine. I like it! And in Pakistan, representatives of the brand, working on commission, handed out samples at parties, shopping malls, tea shops and tobacconists.
A 17-year-old in Pakistan told the office that they were offered a free sample without being asked for identification.
In an official Velo account on social media, another Pakistani man confided that Velo was his first flirtation with nicotine. The company responded by saying it was “very excited.”
BAT said its products were “for adults only and we believe youth should never use any nicotine products.”
“We are clear that all marketing activity for our products will only be directed at adult consumers and is not designed to attract or attract young people; it must be accurate and not misleading; and that it is clarified that it originates from BAT. Our social media accounts are restricted by age, so they are only visible to those users who have confirmed that they are over 18 years old (or another applicable minimum age), ”he said.
The company added that it was essential to market “reduced risk” products so that smokers would be aware of them.
Taylor Billings of Corporate Accountability said the social media campaigns were intended to reach a young audience. “The tobacco industry has too many resources for things to be a coincidence,” he said. “They don’t accidentally place glossy ads on a platform that has a large percentage of its users like Gen Z or young millennials.”
One of BAT’s brightest campaigns is a partnership with Formula One, which banned tobacco advertising in 2006 but still allows nicotine products.
A partnership with McLaren includes Vuse e-cigarettes and the Velo brand on drivers’ uniforms and cars. BAT also sponsors F1 esports events that are streamed live on YouTube.
Although viewers had to register as over the age of 18 to watch, during a tournament several viewers revealed that they were underage. The sponsorship campaign even extends to a deal with Rudimental, the drum’n’bass band.
McLaren said the marketing activities helped raise awareness of less risky products and “were only directed at adult nicotine users.”
BAT’s own investor presentations show that at least half of the users of nicotine bags and vapes are “new entrants.”
During a video update on BAT’s progress, Paul Lageweg, director of new categories, boasted of the appeal of nicotine bags among Gen Z adults (born 1997-2012) and millennials.
It identified Pakistan and Kenya as BAT’s most interesting test markets.
The exciting opportunity in Kenya included selling Lyft through online retailer Jumia, where it was classified as a party product. On another website, he directed customers to products they might also like, such as Dunhill and Sportsman cigarettes.
Office reporter Edwin Okoth was investigating this when an employee at Engage BCW, affiliated with global advertising giant WPP, offered him a bribe.
In text messages, the clerk asked Okoth, “What is your price?” for leaking information about the investigation, confirming that the offer was “serious.”
They went on to say that the bribery was part of a “media intelligence” gathering operation that would help them “manage the customer,” that is, BAT.
BAT said it had ceased its activities with BCW Kenya and had launched an investigation into the incident.
Engage BCW said it had a “zero tolerance policy towards any form of bribery or unethical conduct.”
A spokesperson added: “All of our employees receive mandatory anti-bribery training and are required to sign our code of conduct confirming compliance.
“We are committed to the highest standards of behavior in all of our work and we take this issue very seriously. We immediately began an internal investigation and suspended the employee in question pending its outcome. “
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We strictly prohibit content that depicts or promotes the possession or use of tobacco and drugs by minors. We will remove accounts that are identified as dedicated to promoting vaping and we do not allow advertisements for vaping products or nicotine bags. “
Additional reporting by Edwin Okoth, Ann Törnkvist, Anmol Irfan and Umar Cheema
