![]() 10 American Spirit is noteworthy for marketing tactics that may appeal to the AI/AN community, contributing to misperceptions that the brand is manufactured by AI/ANs or on tribal lands near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Analyses of previously secret tobacco industry documents criticized tobacco companies, including Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, for appropriating AI/AN imagery, symbols, and the ceremonial use of traditional tobacco to market commercial tobacco products. In spite of significant declines in cigarette smoking over three decades, one of the smallest declines was observed among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs), 7 a priority population with the highest smoking prevalence in the United States (31.8%) 8 and in California (32.2%), 9 where this research was conducted. In 2018, new packaging replaced the banned terms with the phrase “Tobacco Ingredients: Tobacco & Water.” Four of the 14 varieties of American Spirit are marketed as organic. The US Food and Drug Administration required the manufacturer (Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, owned by Reynolds America, a division of British American Tobacco) to remove the marketing terms “additive-free” and “natural” from American Spirit packaging and advertising, 6 but allowed the company to retain “natural” in its brand name. 3, 4 Cigarettes marketed as “natural” are more likely to be perceived by youth as less harmful to health, 5 and research examining perceptions about American Spirit has found that the brand appeals more to younger smokers (aged 18–34 years) than to older smokers. 2 In previous studies, smokers and nonsmokers were more likely to perceive American Spirit as the “healthier” option and rated the brand as less likely to cause harm to health compared to other cigarette brands. Here’s a look at its main findings.More than 2.5 million adult smokers incorrectly believe that their cigarettes are less harmful than others, 1 and American Spirit smokers are more than 20 times as likely as smokers of other brands to endorse this false belief. ![]() The new research published in Tobacco Regulatory Science provides “a consistent message that cigarette pack design elements and descriptors continue to influence smokers,” the authors write. adults to incorrectly believe that American Spirit cigarettes are less harmful than a comparison cigarette pack. Previous research found the characteristics of American Spirit cigarette packs, including the descriptors “Made with Organic Tobacco,” “100% Additive-Free” and “100% U.S. For example, nearly 64% of American Spirit smokers inaccurately believe the cigarettes are less harmful than other brands compared with 8.3% of smokers of other brands, according to a Truth Initiative study published in Tobacco Control. Research shows that these claims do mislead consumers. “The serious risk of this misconception is that millions of smokers will continue to smoke cigarettes they falsely believe are less harmful instead of quitting smoking,” write the authors in the opening paper of a Tobacco Regulatory Science special issue on the topic, co-authored by Truth Initiative Schroeder Institute® Vice President Barbara Schillo. The tobacco industry experienced a major legal defeat in 2006 when it was found to have systematically defrauded the American public with decades of false information, including the deceptive marketing of some types of cigarettes as less harmful than others with terms like “low tar,” “light,” “ultra light,” “mild” and “natural.”Īlthough the law now prohibits the tobacco industry from using these product descriptors, companies are still misleading consumers with marketing that suggests certain cigarettes, such as those from the Natural American Spirit brand, are natural, organic and additive-free, and therefore may be less risky. ![]()
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