TIM Alerts
Tobacco Industry Marketing (TIM) Alerts provide weekly newsletters to subscribers to keep up to date with tobacco industry marketing and emerging tobacco products. Below are excerpts from the five most recent TIM Alerts. To see an archive of all previous alerts, click here.
Excerpt from the Nov 6, 2026 TIM Alert
CIGARS
Backwoods promoted their new Strawberries n’ Cream limited-edition cigarillos on Instagram.
ENDS
Geek Bar promoted new Halloween-themed flavors for the Pulse 2 model, Haunted Blueberry and Hallow Nana, on the website and Instagram. Regarding authorization, Geek Bar’s website claims that they “have submitted PMTAs to the FDA for our products, including no flavored products aside from tobacco and menthol pods.”
Excerpt from the Oct 30, 2026 TIM Alert
CIGARS
Swisher Sweets announced in an email that their products are now available to order through GoPuff, a shopping delivery service.
MODERN ORAL NICOTINE PRODUCTS
Nicokick, an online retailer for oral nicotine products, announced on its Instagram page that nicotine pouch excise taxes will be covered for consumers from New York and Texas from October 26-30. State excise taxes for nicotine pouches are 75% of the wholesale price in New York and $1.46 for products weighing less than 1.2 oz (i.e., for most nicotine pouches), or $1.22 per ounce for products weighing at least 1.2 oz.
Excerpt from the Oct 23, 2026 TIM Alert
ENDS
Off-Stamp announced a new pod-based device, the X-Cube Pro, that has a larger screen with a customizable display and an associated smart phone app. We have not identified any evidence that Off-Stamp has submitted a PMTA application for the product.
MODERN ORAL NICOTINE PRODUCTS
Hyppe nicotine pouches recently added Blue Razz and Chewy Strawberry flavors to their lineup; Grape Rush and Spearmint were covered in a previous alert. The brand last announced that it received FDA PMTA acceptance notifications for nicotine pouch products under the former brand name, 2ONE pouches, in 2024. This does not mean that Hyppe has received marketing authorization, but rather that the PMTA has now moved to the scientific review phase.
Excerpt from the Oct 16, 2026 TIM Alert
CIGARS
Game recently promoted an upcoming cigar on their website. Called “Partly Cloudy,” the cigar is a limited-edition entry into the company’s Leaf line. White Owl has also promoted an upcoming limited-edition cigar on their website called “Cosmic Dust”. Neither company has mentioned any details on the flavor or release date of their cigars.
MODERN ORAL NICOTINE PRODUCTS
Chyl has recently advertised new pouch lines in retailer-centric magazines. The ad features 3 different pouch types: dry, wet, and crush. Notably, the crush pouch has a capsule in it, similar to capsule cigarettes from brands like Camel. All of these pouches come in both 6mg and 9 mg strengths. There is no public evidence available to suggest that Chyl has applied for a PMTA.
Excerpt from the Oct 15, 2026 TIM Alert
CIGARS
Backwoods’ Red Velvet flavored cigarillos (mentioned in a prior alert) are now available exclusively at 7-Eleven retailers.
ENDS
A variety of ads promoting the new Vuse Pro pods have appeared on web-based platforms, like mobile apps and browser displays, highlighting the release of four new flavors. While Vuse Pro devices are not yet available in the U.S., the Vuse Pro pods are available and are compatible with the Vuse Alto device. The Vuse Pro device, which is age-gated, and pods do not currently have marketing authorization, but RJ Reynolds Vapor Company submitted PMTAs for the device and compatible pods in June 2024. The Vuse Alto device received a PMTA in 2024.