Coupons, rewards programmes and sweepstakes offered by leading US combustible tobacco brands

Some tobacco companies have announced support for transitioning people who smoke to non-combustible tobacco products. However, tobacco manufacturers continue to spend billions of US$ annually promoting combustible products. This study examined the prevalence and characteristics of three types of promotions offered by leading US combustible brands.

We identified leading US cigarette and cigar brands by market share and conducted online searches to determine which of these brands had brand-specific websites. A total of 11 cigarette and 8 cigar brand websites were included, representing 85.6% and 90.3% of cigarette and cigar sales, respectively. Each brand website was dual-coded for content related to coupons, rewards programmes and sweepstakes.

All cigarette brand websites offered coupons, while 27.3% promoted rewards programmes. Examples of prizes offered through rewards programmes included Apple AirPods, Ray-Ban sunglasses, GoPro cameras, cigarette coupons and a variety of gift cards (eg, Uber Eats). Moreover, 45.5% of cigarette brand websites promoted sweepstakes, offering prizes, including instant cash, a motorcycle and a vacation. Among leading cigar brands, 12.5% offered coupons and 37.5% promoted rewards programmes, with prizes including cigar coupons, cigar branded clothing and ashtrays. None of the cigar brands offered sweepstakes.

Many leading US combustible tobacco product brands incentivise continued combustible product use through offerings of free prizes and reduced prices, including some brands made by manufacturers that claim to be committed to tobacco harm reduction. Marketing restrictions may be needed to address combustible tobacco product use.