Life insurance, brought to you by Philip Morris International

Due to the global drop in cigarette sales, Big Tobacco is looking to invest in new markets. For example, Altria currently owns 35% of the shares of Juul, the American vaping company. More surprisingly, however, is Philip Morris International’s recent decision to launch a new subsidiary in the insurance industry!

Called Reviti, this company offers life insurance on British soil. Its initial idea is to offer life insurance that provides speicif rebates to customers who quit smoking tobacco. In exchange for an annual fee, the insured can breathe easy knowing his or her loved ones will receive a hefty sum once the insured passes away.

Customers who are in the process of quitting smoking will have particularly favorable rates. Discounts will be offered to vapers and users of “reduced risk devices,” but this new idea has raised more than a few questions, especially when looking into the specific discounts.

Beating around the bush for an IQOS promotion

The insured customer who stops smoking for at least one year will receive a 50% discount. Clients who vape for at least three months are only offered a 2.5% discount; however, IQOS users will benefit from a 25% discount!

This is an alarming number, especially since Reviti claims that it can justify its offer and the varying refund amounts because it has consulted “scientific data.” Are they suggesting that the IQOS is ten-times less dangerous than electronic cigarettes? For the time being, no scientific study has proven this, and in fact, the data suggests the opposite …

The details of the insurance policy are particularly worrying, and suggest that this is nothing more than a publicity campaign masquerading as a legitimate life-insurance plan. Philip Morris International seems to be using its offer to promote the sale of its IQOS tobacco-heating device, a nefarious and strange life-insurance policy that will soon be available in Great Britain.