BAT’s ‘resilience’ does not herald a ‘Better Tomorrow’

As British American Tobacco (BAT) prepares for its Annual General Meeting, the University of Bath’s Tobacco Control Research Group and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), are calling out the tobacco company for undertaking a rebranding exercise intended to hook a whole new generation of young adults to its tobacco and nicotine products, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andy Rowell, Director of the Tobacco Tactics team at the Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath, a partner in the STOP global tobacco industry watchdog, analyses BAT’s rebranding exercise.

Over the last six weeks, in the middle of the pandemic, the tobacco company has changed its image to try and appear more socially responsible. On March 18, the same day the British government announced most schools across England would shut until further notice due to the pandemic, BAT was talking to its institutional investors as part of its Capital Markets Day. It was reassuring them that not only was BAT resilient but it planned to target new markets.

You can read the full article on the ASH website.