Deadly Alliance Report

How Big Tobacco and Convenience Stores Partner to Market Tobacco Products and Fight Life-Saving Policies

The tobacco industry spends the majority of its marketing budget at the point of sale. As other forms of tobacco marketing were limited by public health policy successes, the industry turned to the retail environment as the primary channel to get kids to smoke, keep people who currently smoke hooked, and make it harder to quit. These marketing dollars go towards saturating convenience stores and other retail outlets with tobacco products, advertisements and promotions ensuring tobacco products will continue to be prominently displayed, heavily advertised, and cheaply priced.  This report details how the tobacco industry uses the retail environment to market their deadly products and fight policies that limit tobacco use.

Originally released in 2012, this 2023 update from the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Center for Black Health & Equity, Counter Tools, and Truth Initiative includes:

• The latest data from the Federal Trade Commission reports on marketing expenditures by the top cigarette, smokeless, and e-cigarette companies, which continue to show high proportions of spending at the point-of-sale
• Updated evidence of point-of-sale marketing to youth and communities of color
• Examples of the widespread availability of kid-friendly flavored tobacco products at the point-of-sale
• New examples of the tobacco and convenience store industries working together to oppose effective tobacco control policies
• A description of the corrective statements – court-ordered signs posted at the point of sale by the tobacco companies – resulting from the 2006 landmark ruling that tobacco companies had lied to the public for decades
• New research on the impact of tobacco control policies on convenience stores

Next Steps

Last updated October 19, 2023