Has Camel SNUS really gained market traction??

April 20, 2008 -In May 2008 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco (RJR) test marketing of Camel SNUS will go from eight to 17 metropolitan areas. We did a spot check on the sales of Camel SNUS in the eight cities its now available. We know that Camel SNUS has not caught on in the Raleigh, N.C. The original test sites were convenience stores (c-stores) in the Austin, TX and Portland, OR areas. Sales in these stores and the other cities added indicate sales have been slow, only if the store is near school do sales pickup, e.g., a store in Austin, TX near two schools. In one of the Sheets c-stores in North Raleigh the special cooler for Camel SNUS has even been placed under the counter. Tobacco companies are in agreement for SNUS to catch on and be a strong seller it's going to require more public awareness and education.

Amongst other things RJR has tried various coupons for free can of SNUS trying to get smokers to give it a try but its not easy learning the art of SNUSing. (I'll bet that RJR has given away more cans of Camel SNUS than they have sold.) Mainly young adults and kids that want to be young adults will take time to learn the proper technique of sucking on the moist snuff packet. As pointed out by Matthew Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, all the new cities picked by RJR have clean air laws. So RJR is targeting smokers when they can't smoke to get past their nicotine craving. Because smoking bans stimulate quitting, this is a harm increasing development - Dr. Simon Chapman. Dr. Lars E. Rutqvist, the Vice President for Scientific Affairs at Swedish Match has stated the drive in SNUS sales in Sweden has been in response smoking ban rather than the perceived advantage to user’s health. Click on image to enlarge.. (TobaccoWatch.org)