Zyn, vapes, and the wild rebranding of nicotine

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen appeared on the podcast Green Light in August to discuss his routine during the offseason, which was soon coming to an end. When host and NFL veteran Chris Long mentioned that the Bills star looked “slim,” Allen jumped in to explain. “I was eating better. I took care of myself more than I ever have in our little month-and-a-half break,” he said. “I don’t know if I should say this, but there’s a secret trick—I don’t know if it’s true or not—but I’m just throwing in a few Zyns.”

Zyn, a nicotine product derived from tobacco that looks like a doll-size tea bag and comes in a range of strengths and flavors, had been appearing discreetly along the gumlines of a growing number of public figures for more than a year. The Food and Drug Administration forbids paid tobacco sponsorships in sports and entertainment, but it doesn’t govern unsolicited endorsements like the one from Allen. In certain corners of social media, unpaid pouch enthusiasts—Zynfluencers, or Zynmeliers, if you must—have been out in force.

In his Green Light interview, Allen called Zyn’s citrus flavor “pretty dang good,” and Long, clearly delighted by Allen’s confession, slid two canisters out of his pocket to compare tasting notes. A clip of their interaction soon took off on TikTok, notching more than 930,000 views. One commenter anointed it Allen’s “MVP seazyn.”

Barely a generation ago, when nicotine was almost exclusively tied to cigarettes and all the health risks associated with tobacco, it would have been shocking for a professional athlete to endorse the stimulant. Then, in the mid-2010s, vapes arrived on the scene, offering a high-tech, tobacco-free hit of nicotine that broadened the addictive chemical compound’s appeal. Almost overnight the highly regulated tobacco industry, which had been defined by standardized products and Marlboro Man–style loyalty, was reborn as a place for specialization and experimentation.

Vapes were just the beginning of nicotine’s glow up. Today, Big Tobacco and startups alike are pushing a wide range of nicotine products: pouches, gums, sprays, strips, lozenges, toothpicks, and more. These new brands, designed to appeal to younger audiences, share an admirable goal—namely, smoking cessation. “We’re in the business of changing a ritual,” says Philip Morris International chief consumer officer Stefano Volpetti, who oversees the company’s smoke-free portfolio, which today accounts for one-third of PMI’s $35 billion business. In 2022, PMI acquired Zyn manufacturer Swedish Match for $16 billion, buying its way into the fastest-growing segment of the market. Zyn is on track to sell an astounding 580 million canisters in 2024, up 51% year over year; British American Tobacco, maker of Camel and Newport cigarettes, grew its pouch brand Velo by 46% in 2022.

These new brands may be selling the same compound, but they’re targeting different audiences. Swedish Match introduced Zyn to the U.S. with messaging similar to what had resonated in Scandinavia, describing the product in 2016 as “clean, discreet, and convenient.” The approach worked, perhaps too well: Self-optimizing bros embraced the idea of nicotine as an unobtrusive way to stay focused and ran wild with it. “I do think nicotine does keep your testosterone levels up,” Tucker Carlson winkingly told comedian Theo Von on his podcast in 2023, describing the product as a “powerful work enhancer and also a male enhancer, if you know what I mean.” Los Angeles–based vape startup Nixt, in contrast, appeals to Erewhon girlies, describing its fruity flavor blends as akin to a “refreshing smoothie.” To enhance its wellness halo, Nixt sells antianxiety herbal supplements and promotes meditation to curb cravings.

Entrepreneurial interest in nicotine is so high that when the FDA invited products containing synthetic nicotine to apply for authorization in 2022, more than 200 companies submitted applications. They are seeking to serve the millions of Americans who now dabble across vapes, pouches, and cigarettes, upending the paradigm of the traditional pack-a-day smoker. Whether you want to grind or you want to chill, there is now a nicotine brand anticipating your desire.

Smoking rates in the U.S. have been declining ever since scientists confirmed a link between cigarettes and lung cancer in 1964. Today, 11.5% of the adult population smokes, half the number who did so in 2005. Even so, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease, responsible for one in five deaths. Today’s smoker is older, less wealthy, and less educated than the average American adult, compounding the health risks.

For decades, smoking cessation brands like Nicorette and NicoDerm focused on this aging demographic. Then came e-cigarette innovator Juul Labs, which launched in 2015, creating a deluge of new nicotine addicts and inspiring dozens of copycat vapes. Juul’s line of tobacco-free nicotine pods—in flavors like cucumber, mango, crème—became an instant hit, and within a few years, the company was worth $15 billion. But its reputation was soon in shambles. By 2019, more than 5 million teenagers were vaping, leading to parental panic and a political backlash.

Many of Juul’s early adopters are now looking for ways to quit vaping, or at the very least reduce their nicotine consumption. Among them is Brian Bordainick, an entrepreneurial marketer with a knack for understanding Gen Z’s open-minded views on health. His prior startups include Starface, which makes in-your-face-obvious pimple patches, and Julie, an emergency contraceptive. In 2023, he cofounded Blip, which sells nicotine gum and lozenges, as well as non-nicotine flavored toothpicks, all in neon packaging. “We’re taking products that the federal government has already approved,” he says, “and I think we’re doing a better job of marketing them to people who need access.” Blip, which bills itself as a quitting tool for younger vape addicts, has a compelling TikTok presence and a fan base that includes Doja Cat. Blip competitor Nicorette, Bordainick says, looks like “medicine” and doesn’t “connect with people.”

Other brands are more transparently looking to cash in on nicotine’s renewed popularity. Tucker Carlson, who was reprimanded by PMI for his false claims about Zyn’s health benefits, announced in September that he was launching an oral nicotine brand of his own, called Alp. Carlson also indicated that his thinking on nicotine pouches’ appeal had evolved, positioning his product as “a better time” and a chance to “free your mind,” according to the Alp website, and making no mention of libido enhancement. The canister design features a good ol’ boy in a cowboy hat. (Carlson did not respond to an interview request.)

CVS, which stopped selling tobacco products in 2014, began carrying Blip in 3,500 of its stores this fall, following a successful pilot program; a 20-pack of gum costs $14.99. And Bordainick isn’t the only entrepreneur to realize that the fastest path to consumers typically involves creative rebranding of FDA-approved formulations: Jones, a normcore spin on nicotine replacement therapy, sells mint-flavored nicotine lozenges along with quitter baseball hats.

The irony of all these “smoking cessation” brands is that nicotine is as addictive as cocaine and heroin, if less deadly. For both users and businesses, it’s hard to quit.

Eight years ago, the founders of food-replacement company Soylent teamed up again to launch Lucy Goods, a nicotine startup aimed at their millennial dad peers. At the time, starting a new nicotine company was “controversial,” says cofounder John Coogan. But he saw an opportunity to meet the needs of anyone looking to wean off nicotine. Lucy offers everything from a 12-milligram-strength pouch, suitable for pack-a-day smokers, to a 2-milligram gum. “I hope that that allows someone to ramp down,” he says. “I want to get to a place where we’re selling 1-milligram, 0-milligram [products].”

But in early September, two weeks after we spoke, Coogan unveiled a new side project: Excel Pouches (the name is a joking reference to Zyn’s popularity on Wall Street). Excel’s website, which is designed to look like that of a generic investment firm, says that the 8-milligram pouches improve productivity, increase shareholder value, and reduce personal-life obligations. A five-pack of mint canisters sells for $29.99. It’s satire, but it might sell. And what’s the harm in trying?