Yet another form of trouble may be looming for some publishers. Two are being called out for allegedly carrying ads for nicotine: Hearst Communications Inc. and Condé Nast.

A group that includes the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and 50 public health advocates in 10 countries demand that Hearst and Condé Nast stop promoting tobacco and nicotine products to kids online.

Specifically, they charge that Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Glamour are partnering with Philip Morris International to promote IQOS heated cigarette and Zyn nicotine pouch products to young people under the age of 25.  

"It is absolutely outrageous that magazines like Seventeen are helping one of the world's largest tobacco companies reach teens and young adults online," says Smita Baruah, executive vice president of global tobacco control at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "By allowing Philip Morris to advertise IQOS and Zyn through popular lifestyle magazines, Hearst and Condé Nast are exposing their readers to harmful and addictive products meant to hook to a new generation."

Hearst says that the Seventeen ad was the result of an error.  

The group and five other organizations sent letters to the publishers asking them to cease and desist earlier this year.

The letters charge that Condé Nast and Hearst are helping Philip Morris skirt a Meta ban on tobacco advertising while undermining advertising laws in at least one country.

Moreover, these promotions have been published online in Spain, Eastern Europe, Mexico, Latin America and the United States. Worse yet, paid advertisements for Zyn, an addictive nicotine pouch, were paired with articles such as "34 Best Gifts for Teenage Girls" and "Best Christmas Movies for Teens," on websites for Seventeen and Cosmopolitan, the group claims.

A Hearst spokesperson provided this comment: "The Seventeen ad was an operational error that was immediately corrected upon discovery in the spring. We do not accept advertising for nicotine, tobacco or vaping products on Seventeen and we have an extra layer of targeting across our brand sites in the U.S. to ensure that we are not reaching anyone under 21 with this type of advertising."

As non-tobacco users, we have no comment on the products or the purported promotions, except to note the claim that IQOS is safer than regular cigarettes.

However, this is not a new issue.

As historians have documented, cigarette merchants achieved their biggest boost to prosperity with the development of mass production and then mass advertising. By the mid-1920s, brand names like Lucky Strike and Camel were plastered on billboards and on the pages of magazines.

These depicted smoking as an attractive pastime, and linked it to sporting activities and romance.

As time went on, the manufacturers aimed their advertising at young non-smokers instead of people who were already hooked, opening up a whole new market. They also targeted women. And they sent thousands of free cartons to veterans’ hospitals and servicemen stationed overseas, gaining praise—and probably new customers.

Their typical stance could be found in this ad headline: “Not a Cough in a Carload.”

Things have changed since then. Non-smokers are no longer bothered by a thick haze of cigarette smoke in movie theaters and restaurants. But there are other types of tobacco products, including those mentioned here. The dangers are not yet clear.