The good news: cigarette sales are down by about a third over the past decade. Not so for little cigars and 'cigarillos'. Their sales more than doubled over the same time period, in large part due to the growing popularity of these little cigars among teenagers and 20-somethings.
The appeal among young people has lots to do with the large variety of candy like flavors in the little cigars, according to Jennifer Cantrell, director of research and evaluation at the anti-tobacco Legacy Foundation.
"We're seeing chocolate, cherry, wild cherry, strawberry, grape, candy apple," Cantrell says. "Pretty much every flavor you can think of that you might see in a gum or candy product we're seeing in little cigars and cigarillos."
To examine how heavily companies market to young people Cantrell sent field researchers out to about 750 small grocery and convenience stores in Washington, D.C.
Stores in areas dominated by young people had far more ads for little cigars, compared to markets in other neighborhoods. Many ads were outside the store, so people didn't even have to go in to be wooed. And they were clearly targeted to a youthful eye. Cantrell says, "They're almost indistinguishable from candy packaging; they tend to be bright and colorful. One ad looks like a big box of colorful crayons."
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