New article on how industry designs products to be appealing and addictive

31 May is World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) – a global World Health Organization (WHO) campaign to raise awareness about the harmful tactics of the tobacco industry. To mark the day and its theme “Unmasking the Appeal”, Tobacco Tactics published a long read, Architects of Addiction: How Industry Designs Products to Be Appealing and Addictive, by Hussein Faeq and Tom Gatehouse.

The article illustrates how the tobacco and nicotine industries have engineered their products to look harmless, taste pleasant and keep users hooked. The piece sets out how companies:

• add flavours and sweeteners into products to mask harsh smoke;
• tweak nicotine chemistry to deepen dependence; and
• wrap these changes in sleek design and youth-oriented marketing.

See also:

• Tobacco Industry Targeting Young People
• World No Tobacco Day 2025 – Campaign page