Do Natural American Spirit Cigarette Filters Have Vents?

Am J Public Wellness. 2017 May; 107(5): 668–670.

Natural American Spirit Brand Marketing Casts Health Halo Around Smoking

Accepted February 9, 2017.

In the 2008 romantic comedy, Definitely, Perchance, the atomic number 82 thespian chides an attractive adult female for paying more than for her "American Eagle Blue" cigarettes than he does for his "Marley Reds." When she asserts, "They don't put as many chemicals in them," he asks, "So, those are good for you cigarettes?" Her coy response is "Something like that." Outside the store, the 2 inhale in unison, at times blowing fume rings—a moment reminiscent of the tobacco industry's early efforts to teach the art of smoking. The motion picture is rated PG-13.

American Eagle Blue, although a Hollywood cosmos, has a real-world equivalent that is a genuine and growing public health concern. An increasingly popular brand of cigarettes, Natural American Spirit, uses health-oriented marketing terms; it is marketed as "100% additive-free natural tobacco," "fabricated with organic tobacco," and grown by local and small U.s. farms.i Introduced in 1985, the branding features an American Indian warrior in formalism headdress smoking a peace pipage. Natural American Spirit's product packaging and advertisement names the manufacturer as Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Visitor (SFNTC), obscuring its ownership by the second largest United states tobacco visitor, Reynolds American (Reynolds), which acquired SFNTC in 2002. Two Reynolds brands have increased market place share by more 400% since 2002, even as US smoking prevalence has declined.ii They are Curtain Mall (from 1.7% to 8.9%), which competed by discounting price, and Natural American Spirit (from 0.3% to one.vii%), which competed by discounting risk perceptions.2

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc. Object name is AJPH.2017.303719f1.jpg

Reynolds American With Their Natural American Spirit Cigarettes

Note. Reynolds American uses repeated health-oriented and pro-American language in the brand proper noun and pack blueprint and claims of "100% additive-gratuitous natural tobacco," "made with organic tobacco," and "Usa grown tobacco," combined with imagery of an American Indian warrior in headdress, peace pipe in hand, and a soaring eagle overhead.

Run a risk PERCEPTIONS

In our interactions with smokers clinically, in inquiry, and on our university campus, we accept heard numerous and repeated statements nigh reduced risks attributed to the make. Assertions include that Natural American Spirits are less harmful than are other cigarettes; that they are American made of natural, pure tobacco; and that they are addictive-free (an unfortunate permutation of "additive-free"). Research has indicated that people have stronger reduced harm beliefs about Natural American Spirit than about other brands.3 In the US Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, smokers whose usual brand was Natural American Spirit were 22 times more likely to falsely believe that their cigarette brand is safer than were smokers of other brands.3 In focus groups, adolescents and adults expressed like false notions about health benefits of natural, condiment-free cigarettes when examining Natural American Spirit advertisements; furthermore, they did not notice or believe the mandatory warning statement, "Organic tobacco does not hateful a safer cigarette."4

Wellness Halo

Consumers perceive products marketed equally natural, organic, or condiment-free to exist healthier and will pay more for products without these labels.5 Thus, marketing creates a health halo event that increases product demand. That is, one aspect, even a single word in the brand name or prototype in a logo, has a prevailing influence on consumers' perceptions of the product, over and above other considerations, such as actual ingredient and nutritional value.5 The extent to which American Indian imagery in packaging and advertising for Natural American Spirit contributes to reduced harm perceptions is unknown. However, brand imagery of an American Indian warrior and his peace piping could evoke associations with smoking tobacco for medicinal uses, and SFNTC has been criticized in the past for utilize of this imagery by American Indian tribes (http://scrap.ly/2jsce2g).

All Natural

Tobacco companies have reported the utilise of nearly 600 additives, including menthol. Curiously, Natural American Spirit's additive-free marketing is applied even to their menthol varieties. Cigarettes that are 100% additive-free and comprise tobacco grown organically may comprise fewer added chemicals; yet, at that place is no show that these cigarettes when burned and smoked are any safer, considering the addictiveness of nicotine and the innate harms of combustible tobacco.

WHAT IS Quondam IS NEW

The marketing tactics of tobacco companies to allay consumer concerns of smoking-related harms are decades old. In the 1930s and 1940s, tobacco industry advert emphasized that "more doctors" preferred certain brands; they advertised cigarettes in medical journals; and Reynolds even created a Medical Relations Partitioning to atomic number 82 their aggressive md and wellness claims promotional strategy.6 The use of physicians in cigarette campaigns died out in the early on 1950s every bit tobacco's harms became credible. Of significance was Wynder's 1953 experimental finding of tumor growth when tobacco tar was painted on the backs of shaved mice, followed by the landmark 1964 Surgeon Full general's Report on Smoking and Health.

The manufacture shifted to a focus on filtered cigarettes. This new technology created an illusion that filters removed harmful elements from inhaled smoke. Some advertisement campaigns likened cigarette filters to hospital air filtration systems. With rapid growth, the marketplace share of filtered cigarettes grew from less than one% in 1950 to 87% in 1975. Next came marketing "light" and "ultralight" cigarettes in the 1970s, with simply an actress row of ventilation holes added to cigarette filters to allow fresh air to dilute and lighten the apparent harshness of the fume.

Past the tardily 1990s, the promotion of light cigarettes constituted one-half of the tobacco industry's advertising budget (http://scrap.ly/2kHoxNa). Ultimately, the filters were shown to be ineffective; the ventilation holes, which lowered yield levels in standard machine testing, resulted in bounty (deeper inhalation, more frequent puffs) and blocking of the vents by smokers' lips or fingers.7 Notably, biomarkers of exposure to tobacco toxins were no dissimilar than regular cigarettes.seven

REGULATORY ACTIONS AND Industry RESPONSE

In 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration banned the misleading "light" and "mild" product labels, although the tobacco industry uses color coding to perpetuate the idea that some cigarettes are healthier: typically, it is gilded for light, bluish for mild, and silver for ultralight.

"Condiment-free" first appeared in the late 1990s on Reynolds'south superlative-selling Winston brand. Brown & Williamson's Project Dark-green sought to create a competitive cigarette make with an "environmentally friendly perception." Concepts included organically grown tobacco, biodegradable filters, recyclable packaging, and additive-free tobacco. Settlements with the Federal Trade Commission in 1999 and attorneys general from 33 states and the District of Columbia in 2010 required disclaimers on all futurity advertisements, including those for Natural American Spirit cigarettes, indicating that organic tobacco and lack of additives did non result in a safer cigarette.

In August 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration issued alert letters to three tobacco companies, including SFNTC, to cease and desist using the terms "additive-free" and "natural" in marketing. An understanding reached in January 2017 permits SFNTC to retain "Natural" in its brand proper name and to characterize its ingredients equally "tobacco and water." Also unaddressed are the potential harms associated with the term "organic" and the co-opting of American Indian imagery.

CONCLUSIONS

Research indicates that the apply of positive health-oriented terms such as "natural," "100% additive-free," and "organic" convey a marketplace advantage and allay consumers' health concerns. The strategy has been successful for Natural American Spirit, with notable growth in market share despite a higher price point and declines in the number of smokers in the United states of america. What may be particularly insidious about Natural American Spirit is the combined outcome of marketing terms that imply harm reduction with imagery that coopts American Indian cultural references.

The extent to which using wellness-oriented marketing terms, lone or in combination with American Indian imagery, contribute to a wellness halo effect for Natural American Spirit warrants continued and increasingly astringent regulatory action to address concerns about false advertising. Furthermore, public health consequences of the combined effect of this brand's marketing elements deserve investigation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) supported A. E. Epperson (postdoctoral preparation grant T32 HL007034). L. Henriksen's research is funded by the National Cancer Institute ([NCI] grants R01CA067850, U01CA054821) and the State of California'due south Tobacco-Related Affliction Research Program ([TRDRP]; grants 23RT-0017, 22RT-0142, 25IR-0026). J. J. Prochaska'south research is funded by the NCI (grant R01CA204356), the NHLBI (grant R01HL117736), and the TRDRP (grants 24RT-0035 and 25IR-0032).

Annotation. The views expressed in this editorial are the authors' own and exercise not necessarily represent those of their institution or funding agencies. The funders played no role in the preparation, review, or approval of the editorial. A. E. Epperson is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (a federally recognized American Indian tribe). 50. Henriksen is a contractor for the California Tobacco Control Program and has consulted for the US Food and Drug Administration'south Center for Tobacco Products. J. J. Prochaska has consulted for Pfizer, which makes smoking cessation medications, and has been an skillful witness for plaintiffs' counsel in court cases against the tobacco companies.

REFERENCES

1. Moran MB, Pierce JP, Weiger C, Cunningham MC, Sargent JD. Use of imagery and text that could convey reduced impairment in American Spirit advertisements. Tob Control. 2016 Epub alee of print. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

2. Sharma A, Fix BV, Delnevo C, Cummings KM, O'Connor RJ. Trends in market share of leading cigarette brands in the USA: National Survey on Drug Employ and Health 2002–2013. BMJ Open. 2016;6(1):e008813. [PMC free commodity] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

3. Pearson JL, Johnson A, Villanti A et al. Misperceptions of damage among Natural American Spirit smokers: results from wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) written report (2013–2014) Tob Control. 2016 Epub alee of print. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

4. Byron MJ, Baig SA, Moracco KE, Brewer NT. Adolescents' and adults' perceptions of "natural," "organic," and "condiment-complimentary" cigarettes, and the required disclaimers. Tob Command. 2016;25(5):517–520. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

v. Lee WJ, Shimizu M, Kniffin KM, Wansink B. Yous taste what you run into: do organic labels bias taste perceptions? Food Qual Prefer. 2013;29(one):33–39. [Google Scholar]

half-dozen. Gardner MN, Brandt AM. "The doctors' option is America's option": the physician in US cigarette advertisements, 1930–1953. Am J Public Health. 2006;96(2):222–232. [PMC costless article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

7. Kozlowski LT, O'Connor RJ. Cigarette filter ventilation is a defective design because of misleading sense of taste, bigger puffs, and blocked vents. Tob Control. 2002;xi(suppl ane):I40–I50. [PMC complimentary article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Wellness are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association