Promoting Tobacco Use Among Students: The U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company College Marketing Program

Abstract

Objectives/Hypothesis: From the 1970s-1990s the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (USST) conducted aggressive campaigns to solicit college students to buy their smokeless tobacco (ST) products. The scope, scale, methods, and impact of this youth marketing campaign have yet to be analyzed in the academic literature.Study Design: Historical research study. Methods: Internal industry documents describing the USST campaigns were obtained via the University of California, San Francisco's repository of tobacco company records. Marketing materials were obtained from Stanford University's Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA) collection of 657 USST advertisements.Results: USST's College Marketing Program (1978 sponsored events in some 350 campuses and hired student representatives in at least 175 colleges and universities across America. College representatives were trained to provide free samples to fellow students. Over a typical school year approximately a quarter million Happy Days, Skoal, and Skoal Bandits samples were handed out to undergraduates. USST paid their student representatives well and offered them a variety of incentives based upon sales growth. During the 1990s, USST's Skoal Music program engaged students on campuses and at "spring break" venues such as Daytona Beach.Conclusions: Targeting of college students on campus was a common tobacco industry practice between the 1940s and early 1960s. From the 1970s through 1990s USST resurrected the method and pursued it with vigor including: distribution of free samples; sponsored events and concerts, branded intramural teams; visits by sports celebrities; logo wearables and merchandise; contests and incentives; and displays and promotions in stores on and surrounding campuses.

Evidence‐Based Medicine in Otolaryngology Part 14: Falsehood and Bias

“…In addition to COVID, which has multiple otolaryngological manifestations, other areas within our specialty have been affected. For example, smokeless tobacco was promoted as a safer alternative to cigarettes, despite the risk of oral cancer with either method 7 . Subsequent data demonstrated that 18% of health‐related claims related to tobacco were false 8 .…”

“…For example, smokeless tobacco was promoted as a safer alternative to cigarettes, despite the risk of oral cancer with either method. 7 Subsequent data demonstrated that 18% of health-related claims related to tobacco were false. 8 In addition, Formeister et al, 9 studied sensorineural hearing loss to provide a scientific assessment of a previously publicized risk.…”

Flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems ads (2019–2020) on traditional U.S. Media by audience demographics

“…The tobacco industry has an established history of targeting products to specific consumer segments in the U.S., including youth and young adults, women, and systematically marginalized groups based on race, ethnicity, or sexual identity ( Ling and Glantz, 2002 , Stevens et al, 2004 , Toll and Ling, 2005 , Cruz et al, 2019 , Barbeau et al, 2005 ). Exposure to tobacco marketing is associated with increased tobacco consumption, including increased likelihood of initiation ( Cruz et al, 2019 , DiFranza et al, 2006 , Kreitzberg et al, 2019 , Qian et al, 2021 , Nicksic et al, 2017 ). Studies suggest that exposure to tobacco ads among youth is substantial ( Agaku et al, 2014 , Marynak et al, 2018 ), and there is growing evidence of comparatively higher exposure to commercial tobacco ads among individuals who identify as racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities (e.g., bisexual Latinas) versus those who identify as heterosexual and White ( Tan et al, 2021 ).…”