“Our aim is to inform key opinion leaders of our mission to achieve a science-based smoke-free future,” said PMI spokesperson Corey Henry.
While the ephemerality of digital ads makes it tough to catalog when a publisher runs a tobacco ad, the branded advertorials published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Politico and Boston Globe leave digital footprints.
The Times, Post, Journal and Politico all ran at least one such ad between 2020 and 2022, according to documents shared with Adweek. The Boston Globe, meanwhile, has run at least 40, according to reporting from the nonprofit CommonWealth.
In some of these campaigns, executives at tobacco companies pen essays that aim to underscore the objectivity of science. Others simply highlight scientific breakthroughs.
They do so, according to Schillo, to legitimize studies funded by PMI and Altria that support their claims that smokeless cigarettes like vapes are healthier than combustible cigarettes. The strategy seeks to introduce doubt into an otherwise straightforward subject—a tactic used by both the tobacco and petroleum industries to slow regulatory efforts, said Schillo.
Other campaigns are less subtle.
In September, PMI sponsored both The New York Times’ flagship podcast The Daily and a marquee Semafor newsletter covering business, according to three people familiar with the placements. And in October, Altria ran ads during The New York Times podcast Popcast, which were heard by Adweek.
