Rutgers researchers find tobacco companies' deceptive lobbying and sales activities are rarely perceived by the communities they target
After decades of deception, Black adults who smoke menthol cigarettes are often unaware of the deceitful ways tobacco companies market their products to them, according to a Rutgers study.
"Evidence shows that the tobacco industry engages in predatory marketing tactics and that companies push certain products on specific groups," said Kymberle L. Sterling, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and lead author of the study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. "The tobacco industry uses these predatory methods to target Black communities with menthol cigarettes, and many consumers are simply unaware."
The findings come as a federal pledge to ban menthol cigarettes languishes. In April 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration disclosed plans to enact a menthol ban by August 2023, but the measure remains stalled. This month, a coalition of medical and civil rights groups sued the FDA for inaction.
Since the end of World War II, tobacco companies in the United States have pushed menthol products on Black communities. Today, an estimated 81 percent of Black cigarette-smokers smoke menthols, compared with 34 percent of whites and 51 percent of Hispanics.
To gauge perceptions of how tobacco companies engage with and market menthol cigarettes to Black communities, and to help inform public health solutions, Sterling and colleagues at the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies surveyed more than 2,300 adults age 18-45. The survey, part of the Rutgers Omnibus Study, a multiyear survey to assess tobacco behaviors and patterns, was designed to measure Americans' smoking habits and beliefs.
Respondents were asked a series of questions related to their awareness of tobacco company engagement strategies. Topics included knowledge of companies' lobbying and marketing and funding for Black community organizations.
