ALP nicotine pouches came onto the market in December 2024, meaning they’ve now celebrated their first anniversary. And what a year it’s been for the brand, from its inclusion in a pioneering FDA pilot program to its partner Turning Point Brands enjoying a 627% rise in pouch sales.
Spearheaded by political commentator Tucker Carlson — the host of one of the most popular podcasts in the US — it wouldn’t be quite right to call ALP pouches an underdog. But unlike many of their biggest competitors, they don’t have the backing of a tobacco giant either. This makes it intriguing to break down the story of how ALP achieved such rapid growth.
Here’s the “Tuck”down:
- ALP pouches have enjoyed lots of exposure thanks to the fame of founder Tucker Carlson and his associations with nicotine.
- The brand has enjoyed a fast rise, and nicotine pouches now make up more than 30% of the net sales of Turning Point Brands (Tucker Carlson’s partner).
- While ALP may never become America’s biggest pouch brand, it has a powerful position in the market thanks to its niche appeal.
ALP Marketing Strategy: The Power of Virality
It’s nothing new for a figure with an existing following to propel a new brand from zero to a hundred faster than is otherwise possible — just look at Dr Dre’s Beats or Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty.
But ALP was the first brand to successfully adopt this approach for nicotine pouches.
Tucker Carlson was once a very big and very public fan of ZYN pouches, so he was a natural fit for the role of starting his own brand. In the 2020s, he frequently appeared on podcasts praising the portions and even coined the iconic phrase “ZYN is not a sin.”
But after Carlson called ZYN a “male enhancer” in the Theo Von on Von podcast in 2023 and it went viral, everything changed.
The Launch of ALP
Shortly after the interview, Carlson stopped using the products and announced his plans to start his own nicotine pouch brand instead. Given the interview clip had already received so much attention, there were plenty of eyes on ALP at the time Carlson launched it with partner Turning Point Brands (TPB).
Carlson then did a great job of keeping people talking about ALP, with ample viral moments that sparked interest and discussion. For instance, he once remarked that: “ZYN is for they/them. Alp is for you.”
While people from all walks of life can enjoy nicotine pouches, the people who have been most public about their use of them have skewed Republican (like Robert F. Kennedy) or been part of the so-called Manosphere (such as Joe Rogan). By targeting his market segment, Carlson secured his first base of customers.
This was a novel — but possibly ingenious — strategy in the nicotine pouch world.
Other Marketing Tactics
While controversy and virality are undoubtedly a part of ALP’s marketing strategy, they’re not the only things that have propelled ALP to success.
Before being available to the general public, ALP had a pre-launch event for a select group of influencers, which helped generate hype. When ALP became available to preorder, it surpassed the forecasts of the company itself.
ALP has also differentiated itself from the competition by donating a portion of its profits to causes like trade school sponsorships and the rehabilitation of retired military and police dogs. Carlson has also donated to Charlie Kirk’s family following his death. It appears these organizations were chosen with Carlson’s core audience in mind.
As far as the products themselves go, Tucker Carlson has emphasized that ALP is more delicious and moist than any other pouch.
The Success of ALP to Date
Prilla’s ALP sales only make up a portion of its market activity, so let’s turn to the figures the company has released itself for a more accurate picture of its performance.
Turning Point Brands enjoyed modern oral net sales of $36.7 million in Q3 of 2025 (the full results for the year 2025 are yet to be announced). That’s more than 30% of the company’s total net sales, and represents growth of 627.6% in a year since the initial launch. However, TPB also makes FRE pouches, so the success isn’t solely down to ALP.
TPB’s stock price has also risen. It now floats above $120, compared to a value below $70 in February 2025, and there’s little doubt that ALP’s success has a part to play.
As for its social media, ALP has almost 100,000 followers on Instagram (97,600 at the time of writing). Its posts focus mostly on memes and videos of the founder, showing that its unique marketing strategy is effectively building an online community.
Another sign of ALP’s success is its selection to participate in the FDA’s pilot program for faster marketing authorization. It was one of five brands included, alongside bigger names like ZYN, on!, and VELO, as well as FRE.
However, ALP is still a long way from matching the numbers of ZYN and PMI. As we reported in our nicotine pouch market report Q3 2025, PMI sold 205 million nicotine pouch cans in the third quarter of 2025, amounting to much larger net sales.
What Does the Future Hold for ALP?
If the success and future prospects of ALP had to be summarized in a few words, it would have to be that the brand holds strong niche appeal.
As a well-known figure, Tucker Carlson has done a fantastic job at getting a lot of eyes on the brand, many of whom have stuck around because they like what ALP has to offer.
There have been plenty of new nicotine pouch brands over the last year (we’ve highlighted a few of them in our 2025 Prilla recap). But no newcomer has managed to grow quite as fast as ALP, and that deserves some serious credit.
