Naturally Similar: Natural American Spirit and Nat Sherman’s new cigarette

In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent warning letters to makers of Natural American Spirit (NAS) and Nat Sherman cigarettes regarding their use of misleading descriptors such as “additive-free” and “natural” on product labels and advertising.^1,2 The result was a 2017 agreement to remove the terms “additive-free” and “natural” as claims, while still allowing NAS to retain the word “natural” in its brand name.³ The agreement also allowed the use of the term “organic” and a specific claim: “Tobacco Ingredients: Tobacco and Water” – both claims that have been utilized in previous NAS ads.

Post-agreement ads for NAS (owned by Reynolds American) now claim its cigarettes are “real,” simple,” and “different,” and made of only two ingredients: tobacco and water (Figure 1). The implied message is clear: these cigarettes are different (from other cigarettes) and simple (because there are only two ingredients). While studies have shown that health-oriented descriptors and claims of being free of additives or chemicals cultivate misperceptions of product harm,^4–9 there has yet to be research on what consumers make of these new terms.

Figure 1.

2017 ad for Natural American Spirit (post-FDA agreement). Image obtained from the Trinkets and Trash tobacco advertising collection (www.trinketsandtrash.org).

For Nat Sherman (recently acquired by Altria), complying with its agreement with FDA while retaining brand identity meant making changes to the marketing of existing products and creating new ones. Per its agreement with FDA, Nat Sherman removed the statement “100% Natural” from all product packaging. It also renamed its “Natural” sub-brand to “Select,” making sure to replace the word “natural” on the cigarettes themselves with an image of a small leaf. Most noticeably, Nat Sherman recently released a new premium sub-brand called “Nat’s” which utilizes many of the same promotional strategies and claims as NAS. The first ads for this cigarette, released in 2019, were headlined “Tobacco. Water. Simply Nat’s.” These ran in upscale magazines such as GQ and Vanity Fair, in line with Nat Sherman’s premium brand image, and appeared on Nat Sherman’s brand website. While the descriptors overlap with those used by NAS, there are some visual differences. Unlike the colorful, intricate design of NAS’ magazine ads, Nat’s ads are simple and muted in color. Visuals are minimal, such as simply showing pack images of the available Nat’s styles (Rich, Rich Smooth, Menthol, and Mellow) with a little leaf at the intersection of the packs (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

2019 ad for Nat Sherman’s new Nat’s cigarettes. Image obtained from the Trinkets and Trash tobacco advertising collection (www.trinketsandtrash.org).

Much of the research on the influence of misleading descriptors on risk perceptions, as well as on the impact of FDA’s enforcement of the ban on some of these misleading terms, has been done in the context of NAS. This is unsurprising as NAS is not only the top national brand that used the descriptors of concern and the most active and aggressive in its marketing, but it is also unique among cigarette brands in that its market share has grown despite falling smoking rates in general.¹⁰ NAS’ advertising, among other factors, likely contributed to its continual growth. In that regard, Nat Sherman’s idea of adopting NAS’ advertising strategies may be an effective approach. In fact, Altria’s purchase of Nat Sherman has led to speculation that it was motivated by a desire to add a super-premium cigarette to its holdings,^11,12 perhaps to counter Reynolds’ NAS. Future attention should be directed towards Nat Sherman and other companies that may take advantage of the marketing strategies that contributed to NAS’ success.