Mate, an Argentinian icon used to promote cigarettes

Abstract

One of the marketing strategies the tobacco industry deploys is the use of culturally significant symbols, practices and values to promote its products.1 2 Between October and November 2023, Marlboro launched a promotion in Argentina related to the caffeine-rich infused herbal drink mate, a deep-rooted tradition among Argentines. The promotion was identified in a convenience store in Buenos Aires during routine monitoring of tobacco products. With the purchase of a pack of Marlboro Crafted cigarettes and an additional payment of 1000 Argentine pesos (US$2.81), the customer receives a mate and bombilla, that is, the container and straw needed to drink the infusion with the same name (see figure 1). Notably, the standalone price of the same mate and bombilla online was 6000 pesos (US$16.86), making this promotion a considerable value proposition.