“Unmasking the appeal”: An interactive university-based workshop to strengthen health literacy on tobacco industry tactics and new nicotine products

**BACKGROUND-AIM** In recent years, the tobacco and nicotine industry has developed increasingly sophisticated strategies to market e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and oral nicotine pouches, often presenting them as modern, safer alternatives to conventional cigarettes. These tactics are not new: they deliberately draw on a long history of industry strategies, recycling old clichés and adapting them to the cultural codes of each generation. These narratives are particularly attractive to adolescents and young adults and contribute to underestimating health and environmental risks. Universities are strategic settings to foster health literacy and critical thinking and to counter industry-driven misinformation. The aims of this interactive workshop are to enhance participants’ ability to recognise and deconstruct tobacco industry tactics, improve knowledge of the health and environmental risks of new nicotine products, and promote informed, smoke- and vape-free choices within the university community and the general public. **METHODS** A 5-hour workshop, approved and funded by Sapienza University of Rome and scheduled for spring 2026, will include: (1) a scientific–educational plenary session with national experts on tobacco use, nicotine addiction, second-hand exposure, emerging products and cessation services; and (2) a guided experiential pathway with six thematic stations. These stations address flavours and product design, glamour and influencer marketing, misleading harm-reduction claims, industry interference in policy and research, “secret science” and doubt-creation, and environmental harms and greenwashing. Visual panels, historical and contemporary advertising examples, facilitated discussion and optional respiratory tests/voice-based screening tools will be used to “unmask” industry narratives. The workshop targets students, academic and healthcare staff, and citizens. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires will assess changes in knowledge, perceived risks, attitudes towards industry messaging and awareness of cessation services. **RESULTS** We expect improved health literacy regarding tobacco and nicotine products, greater ability to critically resist both traditional and repackaged industry tactics and increased uptake of cessation resources. We also expect to observe improvements in pre–post questionnaire scores, particularly in knowledge, risk perception and attitudes toward industry messaging. **CONCLUSIONS** The workshop is designed to “unmask” recurring narratives and empower participants to recognise and reject deceptive marketing. Embedding this initiative within a large public university will help consolidate tobacco-related health literacy as a core element of campus culture, fostering a more informed, critical and tobacco-free academic community. This model may be adapted to other universities and community settings as a scalable health-literacy intervention within comprehensive tobacco control strategies.