TIM Alerts

MODERN ORAL NICOTINE PRODUCTS

Via direct email and in a post on the Instagram account for their smokeless tobacco, Grizzly advertised their new Instagram account, made specifically to market their nicotine pouches separately from their smokeless tobacco products. The brand is using a giveaway on the new account to generate user engagement via comments and gain new followers. 

Loon posted several announcements and videos on Instagram about their participation in the Minnesota Turkey Drive at several locations, including in front of a Royal Tobacco retail store in Brooklyn Center. The videos highlight piles of turkeys in Loon-branded bags, with volunteers on site wearing Loon merchandise and doing promotions via megaphone.

CIGARS

Backwoods cigars announced the launch of the first limited edition cigar in their city pack series on Instagram – NOLA Bananas Foster, a flavor inspired by the New Orleans dessert. The product promotion included a trailer featuring collaborator @sartorial_tobacconist, a cigar fashion influencer who has collaborated with the brand in the past (171k followers).

SMOKELESS TOBACCO

General Snus introduced a “new look” to their packaging on their Facebook page, along with a sweepstakes announcement offering cash prizes. Of note, FDA recently renewed authorization for eight General Snus products to be marketed with a reduced risk claim.

CIGARS

Backwoods cigars has recently teased the upcoming release of a new blend on their Instagram page: a flavor called “Smoked Caramel," described in the post captions as “real sweet" and "better when smoked."

SMOKELESS TOBACCO

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has renewed authorization for eight General Snus products to be marketed with a reduced risk claim. With the renewal, these products may continue to be marketed using the modified risk claim, “Using General Snus instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.”

ENDS

At least two disposable vape products—Kumi 6 (from Well Versed) and KickNic—containing "NoNic6" have been advertised on vape wholesale websites. The Kumi 6 website defines NoNic6 as "a substitute for nicotine that is close in structure, but chemically distinct from other vaping alkaloids," claiming that NoNic6 "provides users an experience similar to traditional nicotine liquids."

MODERN ORAL NICOTINE PRODUCTS

Our team previously reported that British American Tobacco announced that Velo Plus, a new synthetic nicotine line of pouches, would be launching in 2025. However, Velo’s website indicates that the product is coming sooner than that. The front page has an ad for a Citrus Chill Velo Plus can with lines that read “coming December 2024” and “Forget everything you know”.

SMOKELESS TOBACCO

Our team reported the release of the US Smokeless Tobacco Co’s website that offers discounts on shipping and subscription orders for Altria’s smokeless tobacco products, “Dip Direct”, last week. Since then, ads for Dip Direct have been placed on the front pages of the websites for Copenhagen, Red Seal, and Skoal. These ads promote the website with emphasis on the discounts, and directly link to Dip Direct.

ENDS

Colleagues at Johns Hopkins University shared with us a recent direct mailing from RJ Reynolds promoting Sensa, the company’s new disposable, nicotine-free vape. The direct mailing allows recipients to “lift and sniff” to learn what each of the brand’s six flavors smell like. The ad also states that the product has a “Flavor Boost Mode” that allows users to get an “extra surge of flavor at the touch of a button."