Big Tobacco owned Lunchables for 23 years and used cigarette science to engineer it. Here's what internal documents reveal.

Philip Morris Companies, the tobacco giant behind Marlboro, owned Lunchables for 23 years and used cigarette research strategies to shape the brand.

  • Internal documents show Philip Morris shared scientists, technology, and product development methods across its tobacco, food, and alcohol divisions, with Lunchables serving as a model example of that strategy.
  • Lunchables was engineered to appeal to kids’ desire for autonomy and to ease mothers’ guilt, using the same consumer psychology approach Philip Morris developed for cigarettes.
  • Researchers say tobacco-style regulations, including warning labels, taxes, and restrictions on child-focused marketing, may be worth applying to ultraprocessed foods like Lunchables.
  • EbbyAEnglish
    9•8 hours ago

    After the rage… Well duh? Obviously.

    Advertising is all about human psychology whether they be adults or kids. Does anyone expect an advertising agency to dismiss all research on adults and start from the ground up targeting kids? That’s not how innovation (that hurt to type in this context) works; we build on previous work.

    I bet the same principals work for Facebook/Instagram/Tiktok and thousands of independent ad agencies derived the same conclusions through different means. Because it’s Philip Morris, should they be the one prohibited from marketing other brands they own?

    • @PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5•8 hours ago

      I am no analysis/therapist, but if I were I’d combine those titles somehow. Theralysis? No…

      Anyway, I do highly recommend (for those that haven’t) investing the time and watching The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis. It is very illuminating as to how we’ve arrived where we are now with regards to propaganda and advertising which are rooted in the same psychological underpinnings.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3RzGoQC4s

      It appears to be on Netflix, as well.

      • NickEnglish
        2•3 hours ago

        Therapist/analysts are typically referred to as analrapists.

      • @pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
        2•7 hours ago

        I don’t have time to watch this now, but I got as far as, “propaganda is kind of a dirty word now because of Germany, so I had to come up with a new way to call it something.” That’s where Public Relations comes from. It seems like a great watch.