Executives are beholden to the board who is beholden to the shareholders. If the shareholders don't want this, they can force change at any level.
Whatever made you think that was the case?
1) They look better
2) They get extra shelf space back
3) They don't have to secure all those high-dollar cigarettes or worry about their theft
4) As smoking declines, they'll probably eventually have to do this anyway, so why not get some positive spin out of it?
I'm willing to guess they've run the number and know this isn't going to be a huge hit to their business.