Timothy Dewhirst is a professor and senior research fellow in marketing and public policy at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. He's Associate Editor of the journal, Tobacco Control, and serves on the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing's Editorial Review Board.

Background: Harm reduction, which is typically overseen by clinicians, nurse practitioners, and outreach workers, represents a movement that tends to be community-based, activism-driven, and concerned with human rights. An important question pertains to the multitude of stakeholders involved and who is overseeing the harm reduction intervention. For tobacco harm reduction, the curious involvement and role of the industry proves to be contentious. Multinational tobacco companies, such as British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris International (PMI), have adopted harm reduction in their marketing initiatives, which facilitates showcasing their engagement in new product development such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.

Methodology: To gain insight about the tobacco industry’s objectives for their newly developed products presented as “harm reduced,” this research reviews internal marketing planning documents, made public from litigation, as well as presentations made to investors.

Results: Findings reveal that tobacco companies pursue multiple sales growth strategies that have an underlying objective of profitable growth by expanding the size of the market, which places them at odds with serving a mandate of harm reduction. The goal of harm reduction is not achieved if the commercial marketing communication of “next generation products” serves to attract new users such as youth that are never-smokers, encourages dual use, or discourages cessation or altogether quit attempts.

Conclusion: The underlying goal for the tobacco industry is the maximization of private profit. Accordingly, their marketing is not limited to existing adult smokers, and offering reduced risk alternatives to only those who would otherwise not quit. While public health stakeholders would normally be quite satisfied if there was diminishing demand for their products and services, the same cannot be said for the tobacco industry. This presentation invites further discussion about how these findings are applicable to other sectors of legally regulated drugs such as alcohol.