Youth access prevention

Our approach to responsible marketing reflects our commitment to providing enjoyable products to existing adult tobacco consumers while preventing youth exposure to our products and product marketing.

In addition to adhering to applicable laws and regulations, “Reynolds Guiding Principles”, and the International Marking Principles, our operating companies must also adhere to our Youth Access Prevention (YAP) Guidelines, which include mandatory requirements to:

• Work directly with retailers to uphold minimum-age laws and our own internal standards
• Support distributors in providing training and point-of-sale materials for use of retailers

Our companies partner with expert third-party entities, including leading analytics and data providers, to implement and improve upon best-in-class technology and vetting systems that ensure marketing is directed to appropriate adult audiences and restricts youth access.

In addition to ensuring we continue to responsibly market our products—which is critical for our business—we also support programs aimed at preventing youth tobacco use.

In 1991, we funded the Right Decisions Right Now youth tobacco prevention program that offers materials to middle schools to help educators address the important issue of making good decisions, despite peer pressure and bad example. The Right Decisions Right Now program still exists today.

We were also a founding supporter of the We Card program in 1995. This program offers retailers materials and training to help them stop the sale of nicotine products to youth.

In 2022 we announced our support of TruAge™, a new digital solution that helps make the process of verifying an adult-tobacco consumer’s age more secure and reliable. These investments underscore our continued commitment to youth tobacco access prevention and are another part of our responsible marketing efforts.