9 of the Strategies Big Tobacco Uses to Target Kids

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Cigarette companies have always recognized youth as their “replacement generation” and have employed a myriad of strategies and tactics to target, attract and addict them to tobacco products. Right from the start, e-cigarette companies took their tactics straight from Big Tobacco’s playbook – and now we’re seeing the same thing with nicotine pouches.

Data from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) show more than 1.6 million middle and high school students using e-cigarettes in 2024, the most common form of tobacco use among youth in the U.S. Nicotine pouches are the second-most commonly used tobacco product among youth, with nearly half a million middle and high school students using nicotine pouches in 2024. 1 The frequency of e-cigarette use by teens is especially alarming with over 40% of high school students who vape doing so frequently (20 or more of the past 30 days), and close to 30% are vaping daily. Among students who use nicotine pouches, nearly 30% use them frequently and over 20% use them daily.2 This regular use underscores how addicted youth have become to both products.

1. Groundhog Day!

Tobacco companies used the same tactics to hook youth on e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches that they used to hook kids on cigarettes.*

vape-ad

2. Flavors

Flavored e-cigarette use among kids remains extremely high. Almost 90% of middle and high school students who vape reported using flavored e-cigarettes, with the top four flavors being fruit, candy/dessert/other sweets, mint and menthol. Kids continue to follow the available e-cigarette flavors; with the top one being fruit at 63% and close to 20% of youth e-cigarette users report using menthol e-cigarettes.3

Over 85% of middle and high school students who use nicotine pouches reported using those which are flavored. The top nicotine pouch flavors are mint, fruit and menthol, with over 19% of youth nicotine pouch users reporting menthol flavored nicotine pouch use.3

3. All the ads!

Over 75% of students in 2022 reported seeing tobacco ads on TV, and a variety of other mediums especially on the internet – including for e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. Over 73% of students who use social media specifically reported seeing e-cigarette–related content.*4

zyn ad

4. Corporate Sponsorships

Like the tobacco companies before them, e-cigarette companies have used corporate sponsorships, like auto racing, to showcase their companies and brands.*

5. Eat your vegetables

E-cigarette companies have falsely advertised that their products are less harmful, encouraging people to try their product, which is anything but good for you. Nicotine pouch companies have used similar tactics, including advertising their products as “tobacco-free."

6. Money Money Money

The industry used discounts and coupons to get kids to try e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, but in true 21st century fashion, they also reached out directly through social media to get to kids.*

instagram-vape-ad

7. Who is that?

Online vendors and sales easily allowed youth to pose as adults to access e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.

8. It’s hidden in plain sight…

Nicotine pouch cans, meanwhile, may look similar to colorful candy and mint cans.

9. They Look Like Toys?!?!

Not only are e-cigarette products designed to be discrete, they now can look like everyday items such as children’s toys, video games or cell phones. FDA must continue to crack down on these products.

vape products that look like phones and video games

*Images courtesy of TrinketsAndTrash.org and FDA Press Releases. 

  1. Jamal A, Park-Lee E, Birdsey J, et al. Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2024. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024;73:917–924.

  2. Park-Lee E, Jamal A, Cowan H, et al. Notes from the Field: E-Cigarette and Nicotine Pouch Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2024. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024;73:774–778.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Cornelius M, Park-Lee E, Ren C, Sawdey MD, Cullen KA, Loretan C, Jamal A, Homa DM. Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students - National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2022 Mar 11;71(5):1-29.

Page last updated: January 27, 2025