PMI's Sneaky Subversion

On May 31, the world came together for World No Tobacco Day – the idea was to specifically draw attention to the abusive business practices of the tobacco industry. It was about raising awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure, and discouraging the use of tobacco in any form. 

But this year, Philip Morris International, one of the chief profiteers and drivers of tobacco dependence wanted to subvert the Day – by rebranding it as “World No Smoking Day” and insidiously inserting their own smoke-free tobacco campaign called “It’s Time to Unsmoke” – they were pushing their “heat-not-burn” tobacco products. 

AFP reported that the world’s biggest tobacco company, which makes Marlboro cigarettes, have been popularizing their vaping and heated tobacco products as less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes and claiming that the former releases far fewer toxins. 

Vinayak Prasad, head of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative, told AFP: “We regard the PMI campaign as little more than a cynical attempt by the company to promote (their) deadly products”. 

I had dutifully searched but I know there is no independent science backing PMI’s “harm reduction” claims – therefore, the assertion that the smokeless tobacco products could help people quit smoking is false. 

Don’t be deceived – this is a PR campaign, nothing more. 

In the last two years, PMI launched Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (of which it remains the sole funder), started a life insurance business that incentivizes tobacco use and announced an “anti-smoking campaign” that encourages smokers to use its latest tobacco product, IQOS, instead of its other tobacco products. 

[Note: IQOS is a tobacco heating system. It heats the tobacco at temperatures below that of combustion, causing nicotine and other compounds to aerolize just enough to release a flavorful nicotine-containing tobacco vapor but without burning the tobacco]. 

Don’t be gullible – you can’t just make an arbitrary distinction between smoking and tobacco – as if smoking is bad for your health but tobacco is not. 

Philip Morris launched IQOS in Malaysia last November, selling it at selected specialty stores in Greater KL, Penang, and Johor Bahru. 

PMI are wanting to get 30% of their customers to switch to smoke-free products by 2025 Their ambition is for at least 30% of their customers who would otherwise continue smoking, the equivalent of 40 million people, to switch to their smoke-free products by 2025.  

In fact, tobacco giant PMI describe themselves as a disruptive insider challenging the status quo by cutting demand for cigarettes while simultaneously growing the market for smoke-free alternatives. Meaning, the market leader aims to exit the very category that made its name. 

But that doesn’t change anything because IQOS still contains nicotine. And even if the levels of chemicals it releases are significantly reduced compared to cigarette smoke – it does not translate into lesser harm. IQOS is still as bad as a cigarette. It is equally dangerous. 

On Tuesday, I attended the Shah Alam Toastmasters meeting – where I was both Toastmaster of the Evening and an assignment speaker.

I delivered a CC#4 How to Say It speech. A speech sketched by despondency.

I spoke of angry brushstrokes as I fiercely slapped black and white hues onto a blank canvas. I had painted a mournful nighttime scene where winter was already lurking nearby. I had colored a sorrowful landscape that wept out its grief. It was a painting that expressed my crestfallen emotions. I called it Winter is Coming.

And the person who gave me feedback happened to be the General Evaluator too. She was uncharitable – but I didn’t mind. I had taken the stand that good feedback will help me be a better speaker.