Mevius

Mevius (メビウス), previously called Mild Seven (マイルドセブン), is a Japanese brand of cigarettes, as of 2018 owned and manufactured by Japan Tobacco (JT).[1]

History

Mevius was launched in 1977 under the name Mild Seven and was intended to be a mild version of the Seven Stars brand. It was launched overseas, again as Mild Seven in 1981, and was the first brand with a charcoal filter in an American blend in Japan. Initially it was intended to treat Mild Seven similarly to Seven Stars, but Japan Tabacco (JT) changed the F1 participation brand from Cabin (another Japanese brand owned by JT) to Mild Seven in 1994, and the vertical blue left side of the white background was changed to a belt design. At the time, the advertising slogan "The blue world of Mild Seven" was used in television commercials, and after that blue became the colour of choice for the brand.

The cigarettes are the third most widely smoked cigarette in the world with 76.5 billion around the world, behind Marlboro and Camel.[2] Under the Mild Seven name, Mevius was a top seller.

Controversy

Counterfeit Mild Sevens from North Korea

In 2006, it was reported that counterfeit Mild Seven cigarettes were smuggled and sold outside of Japan. The pack design is very similar but the quality of the cigarettes such as scent and taste were not. According to the survey results both inside and outside of Japan, there is strong suspicion that these fake cigarette are manufactured as a part of the foreign currency fund acquisition activity by North Korea.[11][12]

Mild Sevens recalled due to faulty filter

In December 2007, JT recalled some of the Mild Seven brand cigarettes sold in stores in Tokyo and neighbouring prefectures because of faulty filters. JT said 14,500 cigarettes would be recalled, including 2,500 faulty ones, which were shipped to 225 stores in Tokyo and three other prefectures on December 13, 2007. The faulty filters of the cigarettes were not glued on properly and were likely to come off, the company said.[13]

JTI Korea pays Instagram users to promote Mevius

In September 2017, it was reported that JTI Korea had been paying Instagram users who had a lot of followers to post photos of its Mevius brand cigarettes, according to a document obtained by The Korea Times.

In return, Instagram "influencers," most of whom were men in their 20s and 30s, are said to have received as much as 5 million Won (approximately US$4,400) for each post. These photos primarily aim to spark interest in Mevius among women who follow young, fashion-savvy men who upload photos of their daily lives. A bigger program with JTI's marketing on the photo-centered social media is that underage users are indiscriminately exposed to these photos glamorizing cigarettes because anyone, regardless of age, can join Instagram and view pictures posted by others. In Korea's "Tobacco Business Act", there are no specific rules governing cigarette makers' marketing and sales activities on Instagram, Facebook and other social media.

One Instagram user came forward and informed The Korea Times of Instagram Influencer Guidelines to let the public know about JTI Korea's dubious social media marketing. He said he was approached by a person from JTI Korea's marketing team in June 2017. "JTI systematically recruited young male Instagram users who have at least 10,000 followers" the user said anonymously. "I heard they were offered 4 to 5 million Won for each post for a month, depending on the number of their followers. The users were given this piece of paper outlining how they should take photos and depict them". The company's marketing tactic is disgraceful, he said, stressing minors, particularly young girls, have been exposed to hundreds of photos that beautify smoking. "Many young girls closely follow these handsome men in their 20s and 30s who regularly post photos of their well-shaped bodies. They have certainly viewed many of these Mevius pictures" the user said. "I decided to let people know about JTI's unethical marketing, due to concerns that teenagers may become more inclined to smoke cigarettes".

Controversy over using tobacco leaves near Fukushima

There was controversy online about Mild Seven cigarettes being manufactured with tobacco leaves grown near the site of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. Some have suggested that Mild Seven changed its name to Mevius in order to avoid such suspicion. However, the controversy was denied by JTI Korea's official statement that "Mevius does not use Japanese tobacco at all".[15]

type	Cigarette
currentowner	Japan Tobacco
origin	Japan
introduced	1977 (As Mild Seven)
markets	See Markets
footnotes	Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1

History

Controversy

Counterfeit Mild Sevens from North Korea

Mild Sevens recalled due to faulty filter

JTI Korea pays Instagram users to promote Mevius

Controversy over using tobacco leaves near Fukushima

Sport sponsorship

Formula 1

Other sports

Marketing

Markets

In popular culture

See also

Bibliography

External links

References