With the recent trend of E-Cigarettes and other ways to smoke it would seem that Marlboro has felt the hit. Due to a decrease in cigarette sales Philip Morris International who is the company behind Marlboro is starting to rethink their approach. In a recent article from MSN they talk about moving away from cigarettes and going into the completely smoke free market.
The tobacco giant will be doing something “really big” and moving towards electronic cigarettes as their primary focus. They are focusing on a product called IQOS which is a device that only heats the tobacco instead of burning it. That reduces the number of noxious chemicals found in smoke by 95%. Research is still being done on what benefits switching over could hold and what harm would still remain by continuing tobacco use.
They are aware of the companies social responsibility stating, “Society expects us to act responsibly. And we are doing just that by designing a smoke-free future.” They go on to say, “We understand the millions of men and women who smoke cigarettes,” the company said. “They are looking for less harmful, yet satisfying, alternatives to smoking. We will give them that choice.”
They are doing this for profit only. They stated that since they know that people who smoke cigarettes will most likely move on to another brand there really is no benefit to them adapting this business model for the sake of consumer health. It seems that they just want to stay trendy as many millennial are vaping as a primary source of nicotine ingestion. Smoking is at an all time low in the U.S. and this appears to be their way of adapting to the new American culture. Whatever it is I hope that it is healthier in the long run.
What do you think of this change from Marlboro? Tell us in the comments!
