Philip Morris ditches social media campaign for new variation on e-cigarette

Tobacco giant Philip Morris is under fire, allegedly caught red-handed at marketing its new e-cigarette variation to young people.

The revelations came in an investigation by the Reuters news service.

Philip Morris has suspended an aggressive social media campaign for its IQOS that's allegedly been viewed 179 million times around the world.

The company allegedly pushed the product by paying social media "influencers," such as a 21-year-old in Russia.

The FDA just approved the device, which heats but doesn't burn tobacco, saying younger people weren't likely to use it.

Philip Morris had promised the FDA at its approval hearings that it would market IQOS only to existing smokers and not to youth and nonsmokers.

The FDA relied on that promise when it authorized the sale of IQOS in the United States.