Campaigners are calling for a clamp down on “aggressive” marketing this World No Tobacco Day
Anti-tobacco campaigners are calling on companies producing nicotine pouches to stop marketing their products now, ahead of a ban on the advertising of tobacco products in the UK effective from next year.
To mark today’s World No Tobacco Day, the WHO issued a report earlier this month warning that nicotine pouch brands are using social media, influencers and marketing to attract young people. It said nicotine pouches are often marketed as “modern” and “discreet” in campaigns to make them look like lifestyle accessories rather than nicotine products even though they still carry addiction risks.
Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said there has been “aggressive marketing” of nicotine pouches in the UK. This is particularly aimed at young people, including online promotion and giveaways at festivals and shopping centres.
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“I like having one first thing in the morning with a coffee while working and I enjoy them socially as well. They make me feel sharper.”
Although the market for nicotine pouches is much smaller than for vapes, UK sales reached £206m in 2025, growing 60 per cent year-on-year. The sector is also adopting the tobacco industry’s traditional marketing playbook, including claims that the products can help users quit smoking, relax or focus.
Ed Chambler, 25, who was not previously a smoker or vaper, was introduced to nicotine pouches by a friend two years ago and now uses six to 10 pouches a day. “I like having one first thing in the morning with a coffee while working and I enjoy them socially as well. They make me feel sharper,” he said.
Chambler agreed with the WHO report that that sweet and fruity flavours could help to normalise nicotine use among adolescents and young adults.
“I can see concerns about it appealing to young people because the branding is colourful, bright and flavour-focused, similar to vape marketing.”
The WHO and other public health advocates are calling on governments to regulate nicotine pouches within broader tobacco control frameworks and close loopholes that allow companies to market them as harmless alternatives to smoking.
Cerny from ASH that “while current evidence suggests they are probably less harmful than cigarettes, more robust and independent evidence is needed to confirm their use as quit aids”.
All photo credits to Catherine Rowe-Kosary
