Big Tobacco’s viral hit may be its biggest success since cigarettes
CNN
Governments around the world have tried to kill the tobacco industry. Zyn, the brand of flavored oral nicotine pouches that comes in small, round containers resembling breath mints, is its latest strategy.
Governments around the world have tried to kill the tobacco industry. Zyn, the brand of flavored oral nicotine pouches that comes in small, round containers resembling breath mints, is its latest strategy. While it’s ultimately owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris International, Zyn is a tobacco-free product. White pouches similar in size to a piece of chewing gum send more nicotine than what’s in a cigarette right into the bloodstream. Unlike traditional chewing tobacco, you don’t have to chew the pouches or spit the build-up of tobacco juice. Several trends have driven a surge in Zyn’s relatively wild popularity, from what users feel is its convenience and subtlety, to a flood of online advertising positioning Zyn as a healthier, smoke-free alternative to cigarettes. The brand’s success shows how tobacco companies have diversified their business models from cigarettes to tobacco-free products like vapes, snus, nicotine gums and inhalers. Researchers have called this the “pharmaceuticalization” of the tobacco industry. Zyn’s advertising looks similar to those of many other lifestyle and health products. Advertisements with simple blue and white colors emphasize Zyn’s convenience, variety of flavors and use in many different situations. “Simple. Discreet. Satisfying,” one online ad says showing the cans next to someone typing on a laptop. “You’re free to enjoy it wherever your curiosity leads you.” Zyn was test marketed in 2014 and went national in 2019. Since then it has become the leading nicotine pouch on the market. And the growth has exploded. In 2023, Zyn pouch shipments in the United States hit 385 million cans, a 62% increase from the year prior, according to Phillip Morris International, Zyn’s parent company. Zyn shipments this year are expected to grow another 35%.
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