报告称，烟草业确定了薄荷醇广告的目标

“事实是，黑人, 年轻人和妇女, 他们都是轻度吸烟者，这是谁的共同点, 他们都喜欢薄荷糖, 强化了薄荷醇提供“额外的东西”的概念.'"
——1979年烟草公司的研究

80多年来, 烟草公司一直以黑人社区为目标, 妇女和青年推销薄荷味产品, 根据一份新的报告.

The report, from Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA) and the 美国心脏协会, describes deceptive marketing campaigns that have led to elevated rates of menthol product use, 以及上瘾和过早死亡, among those groups.

More than 8 in 10 Black people and 4 in 10 women who smoke use menthol cigarettes, 超过一半的青少年开始吸烟是从薄荷醇品牌开始的.

"Nearly a century of disgraceful behavior by the tobacco companies has made clear that menthol and other flavored tobacco products threaten public health and perpetuate inequities. 它们不应该再被出售. Rose Marie Robertson, AHA deputy chief science and medical officer and co-director of the 烟草管制科学中心.

薄荷醇清凉的味道使吸烟者更容易深深地吸入, research has shown, leading to a higher nicotine dose and potentially stronger addiction than experienced by those who smoke non-menthol cigarettes.

早在20世纪30年代, 烟草公司进行了激烈的竞争, 持续努力推销薄荷醇, 根据肤色定位消费者, gender and age, 行业文件及广告展示. Active promotion of menthol products continues today with new products and marketing campaigns, 根据报告, 十月发行的.

薄荷醇有很多种形式

Despite ongoing efforts to restrict availability of menthol-flavored tobacco products, 它们仍然很受欢迎. 有些品牌以薄荷醇闻名, nearly all cigarette brands have menthol product lines and some offer multiple menthol variants.

The report also found that tobacco companies have reinvented their products in multiple ways that evade restrictions on menthol tobacco sales. 一种策略是开发胶囊香烟等产品, which use unflavored tobacco but produce a burst of menthol on demand when the filter is squeezed. Tobacco companies also skirt regulations by selling menthol or mint varieties of other products subject to different regulations, 比如电子烟.

Another new industry marketing tactic is the depiction of menthol products as "organic,“无添加剂”或“植物性”." The report says this "greenwashing" of menthol cigarettes continues years of tobacco industry efforts to hide the health hazards of tobacco use.

"By continuously rolling out new marketing campaigns and innovating their products to avoid oversight, the tobacco industry is intent on recruiting new tobacco users and continuing to threaten public health," said SRITA 创始人兼首席研究员. Robert K. 斯坦福大学医学院的Jackler说.

针对黑人社区

"The Black segment has been identified as the Brand's Special Market priority."
- 1981年薄荷香烟品牌公司文件

这份新报告详细介绍了大烟草公司的战略, 从20世纪60年代开始, of flooding urban, 以黑人为主的社区在广告牌上张贴薄荷香烟广告, buses and subways. 营销还包括优惠券, 样品和“入门包”," and featured Black athletes and entertainers touting menthol products in prominent Black publications.

"Exposing the ways tobacco companies target people in disadvantaged communities with products that threaten their health is core to the 美国心脏协会's commitment to battling systemic racism,美国心脏协会主席Dr. Michelle A. Albert, 加州大学的医学教授, San Francisco who is also immediate past president of the Association of Black Cardiologists.

“促进公共卫生，实现卫生公平, we must enact proven public policies that prevent the industry from engaging in practices that have contributed to the loss of millions of lives from tobacco use," she said.

Appealing to women

"Lady, Be Cool"

“为了更多的女人”

——女性杂志上的香烟广告口号

认识到女性是薄荷醇品牌的早期使用者, 烟草业策划了宣传活动, 品牌和包装都具有魅力, feminine flair. Some ads included well-known fashion designers, and one campaign featured Black supermodel Iman.

瞄准青年市场

"(One brand's)特许经营代表了行业中最年轻的人口结构. 这个形象是令人羡慕的，因为它是一个“流行”品牌, as well as insuring future viability as long as these smokers stay within the … franchise.——1984年卷烟品牌推广计划

Big Tobacco has focused on recruiting and supporting young smokers for nearly a century, with at least one leading menthol brand in the 1990s targeting "primarily to young ethnic adult smokers ages 18-24," the report shows. 该公司将这个市场视为“新业务的主要来源”."

追求卫生公平

The new report is a key driver of the AHA's efforts to remove barriers to health care access and quality. Those efforts include calling out industry targeting of under-resourced communities with unhealthy products.

The report also adds momentum to the AHA's advocacy in support of public policies that will 帮助结束烟草使用和尼古丁成瘾. The AHA and its grassroots advocates nationwide are urging the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, 在联邦政府工作, state and community levels to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products.

下载(PDF full report, "Advertising Created and Continues to Drive the Menthol Tobacco Market: Methods Used by the Industry to Target Youth, 妇女和美国黑人," or the executive summary or fact sheet.