Philip Morris International (PMI) was on a roll last week. In an interview with the UK Telegraph, PMI c.e.o Jacek Olczak and PMI chairman André Calantzopoulos continued talking about the company’s push forward on a “smoke-free future”. The newspaper quoted Calantzopoulos as saying, “cigarettes should be treated like petrol cars and banned within a decade.”
And away we go with the sharpened anti-tobacco hatchets of the consumer press falling all over themselves breathlessly gasping out headlines like “PHILIP MORRIS CALLS FOR CIGARETTE BAN”. Just days prior to this, all the same news sources were salivating in reporting the backlash over the so-called hypocrisy of PMI’s intention to purchase inhaler maker Vectura, and – in one statement released on their website a few months ago – indicating they are transforming into a “lifestyle and consumer wellness company.”
The Calantzopoulos quote in the Telegraph was hardly a “call” to the UK government to snap out of it and start banning cigarettes immediately. There is no press release from Philip Morris calling upon the UK government or governments anywhere to ban cigarettes sales. (If there is one issued, Tobacco Asia will duly report it.)
Although Olczak reiterated his statements in subsequent news reports, most notably an in-person interview on CNN, there was no “call” by him to “ban cigarettes. Instead, both executives indicated that governments around the world, “should be” getting behind getting traditional smokers to quit smoking, or at least get behind switching smokers to non-combustibles. Instead of the current practice of fighting manufacturers of reduced risk products every step of the way and publishing unscientific reporting on the health risks of alternatives tobacco products. Calantzoplouos was quoted as saying that it would be better to, “stop the confusion that currently exists in the minds of smokers.”
British American Tobacco (BAT) responded to the screaming consumer press headlines on PMI’s supposed call to “ban cigarettes”, with BAT c.e.o Jack Bowles saying an outright ban would not work, and that banning cigarettes would drive the industry underground. Citing South Africa’s complete ban on tobacco during the pandemic, Bowles said, “Consumption did not reduce one bit – and everything becomes illicit.” Instead, Bowles said BAT will advertise its lower-risk products on a billion cigarette packets to encourage smokers to switch as well as diversify its product categories.
“We can see the world without cigarettes," said PMI’s Olczak according to the Telegraph. “And actually, the sooner it happens, the better it is for everyone.” Reiterating his point again in an interview with the Mail. Olczak said the company will “absolutely” stop selling cigarettes in the UK within the next 10 years and encourages smokers to switch to lower-risk alternatives. “[The Marlboro brand] will disappear [from Britain]. The first choice for consumers is they should quit smoking,” he said. “But if they don't, the second-best choice is to let them switch to the better alternatives.”
Again…the message is that PMI will stop selling combustible cigarettes in the UK within 10 years, not a “call” for governments to step in and make them illegal.
“Beyong nicotine” is PMI’s plan to diversify into other tobacco products. Launched in February, PM's goal is to generate over half of the company’s total net revenue from smoke-free products by 2025. PMI’s smoke-free and reduced-risk products currently account for 28% of its sales, but receive the majority of its investment. The latest development in PMI’s plan in “beyond nicotine” was the acquisition of Vectura Group, a respiratory therapy and inhaled-drug delivery device manufacturer, and Fertin Pharma, which produces gums, tablets, and other solid oral systems quitting smoking.
BAT’s Bowles ruled out his company following PMI’s diversification into pharmaceuticals, saying, “Every company is different – and my view is very simple: we are a marketing, consumer, brand-led company. So, our role is to take the consumers that we have in combustibles and transfer them to new categories.” Aside from lower-risk alternatives, BAT is also looking into cannabis.