One of the worlds biggest tobacco makers says it wants to give up smoking in the new year.
But Philip Morris – the company behind cigarette brands like Marlboro, Parliament, and L&M – is not leaving nicotine behind.
Instead, it wants to shift to supposedly “healthier” tobacco products: things like E-cigarettes and heat-not-burn technology.
The use of traditional cigarettes has been dropping among adults for decades, leaving manufacturers to innovate, consolidate, or both.
Companies like Winston-Salem's Reynolds American – which is owned by British American Tobacco – have made big bets on vaping, smokeless products and other nicotine delivery systems. And Philip Morris' pledge to build its future on "smoke-free" products isn't necessarily off-trend.
The company has even set up The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, a non-profit group aimed at reducing the harmful health impacts of smoking.
But not everyone is convinced of Philip Morris' motives. Namely, the World Health Organization, which refused to partner with the foundation, citing the tobacco industry's history of deceiving the public.
In a September statement, the WHO said "such misleading conduct continues today with companies, including PMI, marketing tobacco products in ways that misleadingly suggest that some tobacco products are less harmful than others."