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Saturday, March 26, 2016

Marlboro Kicks Some Ash

Philip Morris makes a device to heat—rather than burn—tobacco.

On a tree-lined street of stately 19th century palazzi in central Milan, there’s a storefront with glossy parquet floors, subdued blue lighting, and walls displaying large-format color portraits of trendy young people. The space - which looks like it might be an art gallery or chic hair salon - is Marlboro's latest marketing campaign.

The shop is what cigarette maker Philip Morris International calls an embassy for iQOS, a €70 ($79) device that gives a nicotine hit by heating tobacco instead of burning it. Since November 2014 the company has set up about 10 such outlets in Italy and Japan where visitors can sample Marlboro HeatSticks, which users say are more like smoking than e-cigarettes and offer a stronger buzz. Andre Calantzopoulos, chief executive officer of Philip Morris, told investors in February that the technology puts the industry “on the cusp of a revolution” that may improve public health with a safer alternative to smoking, while adding as much as $1.2 billion in profit.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's a vaporizer. Not new! Been using this technology within the marijuana smokers for decades. Same concept as in egiggs or vapes for smoking nicotine oils. Get more enhanced effects with low heat instead of high heat.