The IQOS Illusion: Exposing a Global Cigarette Company's Covert Science and Influence Campaign

Leaked documents suggest that Philip Morris Japan, a subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI), the world’s largest tobacco company, used problematic practices to manipulate science to promote IQOS, its’ controversial heated tobacco product (HTP).

The Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath and the Vital Strategies team at STOP, a tobacco industry watchdog, collaborated closely to expose these practices to a global audience. Sharing this information was in the public interest and played a role in policy-making that will save lives. We targeted the international public health community, media, consumers and, importantly, policymakers, to encourage them to resist pressure to pass regulations that favour IQOS. We coordinated the production and release of original materials including an interactive online module and explainer (in six languages), a research paper and suite of wiki pages. We created and implemented extensive promotional campaigns for this work, including social media content, podcasts, videos and media briefings - reaching audiences around the world. We focused our efforts on countries where health ministries were pursuing new regulations on IQOS or where effective policies were under threat from PMI. The campaign successfully contributed to pivotal policy moments in these countries, with Viet Nam, Brazil and Mexico introducing or re-asserting bans on HTPs undeterred by legal challenges and industry lobbying. On a budget of just US$45,000, in contrast to PMI’s massive global PR budget, we succeeded in reaching tens of millions of people globally and encouraged them to question PMI, IQOS, covert corporate activities and biased science.