The Promotion of Oral Nicotine Pouches for Non-Smoking Cessation Purposes on TikTok

Introduction: Oral nicotine pouches (ONPs) are increasingly prevalent among young people and feature widely within social media content. This study systematically analyzes the most viewed videos on TikTok relating to ZYN (the most popular ONP, manufactured by a subsidiary of Philip Morris International) to understand their content sentiment and patterns, as well as the demographics and potential commercial biases of their creators.

Aims and Methods: We used an Apify scraper in July 2024 to collect URLs and metadata for the top 100 most viewed videos on TikTok under the #ZYN hashtag. Profiles of content creators, plus their externally linked sites, were examined for commercial connections to ONP entities. We then undertook an inductive manifest content analysis.

Results: The top 100 TikTok videos identified garnered over 400 million views and over 3.8 million shares. A total of 10.3% (n = 9) of content creators had an external link to a website that sold ONPs. Videos predominantly indicated positive sentiment toward ZYN products or other ONPs (79%), and portrayed young men enthusing about the products, often employing humor. ZYN products are featured directly in 71% of videos. Few videos contained disclaimers or warnings about potential risks of ONPs and only 5% portrayed ZYN as a vaping or smoking cessation tool.

Discussion: Our findings suggest the most widely viewed content relating to ZYN on TikTok is overwhelmingly positive in sentiment, commonly featuring young men and often portraying ONP use in a humorous context, minimizing risks. Many content creators actively sell ONP products through TikTok, some overtly and some via external links.

Implications: ZYN oral nicotine pouches are presented positively and primarily for recreational purposes on TikTok. Few videos referenced ZYN for smoking cessation purposes or mentioned the risks of nicotine. 10.3% of the creators linked their profile to an external website selling oral nicotine pouches, which appears inconsistent with TikTok’s policies. The use of humor and downplaying or omission of addiction and health risks across most of the sample echoes marketing efforts by the tobacco industry to present oral nicotine pouches as fun and safe.