INTERNATIONAL. Philip Morris International (PMI) is marking today’s World No Tobacco Day in remarkable style with a second consecutive media advertisement calling for people to stop smoking and to switch to alternatives to traditional cigarettes.
As revealed by The Moodie Davitt Report, PMI yesterday published an extraordinary advertisement across several mainstream international and national media titles headed, ‘We’re moving away from cigarettes, how about you?”
Today’s follow-up advertisement, which features in leading international newspapers (and, in B2B publishing, The Moodie Davitt e-Zine), reads: “1 billion people will start World No Tobacco Day with a cigarette.”
It continues: “The harm caused by smoking is well known. Our view on the future is clear.
“We believe people should stop smoking and we support measures to dissuade people from starting.
“That said, people who continue to use cigarettes deserve a better choice. They should be able to switch to alternatives that are likely to be less harmful than continuing to smoke.
“Why would anyone deny them this opportunity? They deserve a sensible plan.
“With more than 400 world-class scientists, engineers and technicians, we’ve made the decision to build our future without cigarettes. To find out more, go to PMI.com.”
This changes everything: Towards a smoke-free, duty-free world It potentially turns a deeply troubled category into a resurgent one. For once our industry is (positively) disrupting itself, rather than playing the role of passive disruptee. |
[Note: The Moodie Davitt e-Zine, out later today, analyses this latest development in our preface to a major forthcoming report on the PMI initiative. The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie recently visited PMI’s scientific and research operation in Switzerland (pictured below) to discover more about the company’s new world of heat-not-burn tobacco products.
It is our belief that the development of alternatives to traditional cigarettes, such as PMI’s IQOS heated-tobacco device and similar initiatives from other tobacco houses, is vital to the future of travel retail. We are committed to championing such a consumer and trade agenda while maintaining our coverage of the mainstream tobacco industry.]
PMI Chief Executive Officer André Calantzopoulos said, “For people who will otherwise continue to smoke, WHO is in the perfect position to drive switching from cigarettes to sensible alternatives. A policy that informs people about those alternatives – in essence, a World No Smoking Day – would reduce smoking prevalence to a far greater extent and at a much faster rate than the existing suite of tobacco-control measures alone.
“People who smoke deserve a sensible plan that takes full account of better alternatives to cigarettes. For our part, we’re determined to deliver a smoke-free future through innovations that stand up to scientific scrutiny and that meet consumer needs.
“Our short-term ambition is that one out of three of our consumers, 40 million men and women who smoke, will have switched to better alternatives by 2025. Ultimately, we want to be in a position to stop selling cigarettes entirely. However, we need the support of governments and the public health community to make this happen in as short a time as possible. I believe that instead of just designating one day as World No Tobacco Day, we should promote every day as World No Smoking Day.”
“Ultimately, we want to be in a position to stop selling cigarettes entirely. However, we need the support of governments and the public health community to make this happen in as short a time as possible.” – PMI Chief Executive Officer André Calantzopoulos
BACKGROUND TO AN ALTERNATIVE MOVEMENT
PMI said that it has already committed US$4.5 billion in supporting a team of 400 world-class scientists, engineers and technicians. That team has spent years creating and testing a range of smoke-free products that offer a much better choice for the millions of smokers who don’t quit, the company claimed.
Over 5 million smokers worldwide have already abandoned cigarette smoking and switched to IQOS, PMI’s heated tobacco product, with 10,000 smokers switching every single day, the company said. “PMI is not the only company pursuing innovation as important to the world’s 1 billion smokers worldwide – the tobacco industry generally is beginning to move in this direction, to the benefit of men and women who smoke,” it said.
PMI is proposing that governments and authorities investigate thoroughly how scientifically substantiated smoke-free products can be used as a complementary public health strategy alongside smoking prevention and cessation. With appropriate government control and oversight, these products can have a meaningful and positive impact on public health, the company argues.
For more on PMI’s views on World No Tobacco Day, visit http://www.pmi.com/world-no-smoking-day-2018.
