Factsheet 3. Advertising bans

Key Facts

• Comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship reduce tobacco consumption.
• Only 5% of the world’s population lives in countries with comprehensive bans.
• Partial advertising bans do not work.
• Tobacco companies use indirect advertising methods to circumvent bans.

Tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising encompasses direct and indirect advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products and brands. In some countries the tobacco industry can use print and broadcast media, billboards, electronic mail and direct mail and the internet to market its products. For example one third of countries responding to a World Health Organization questionnaire still allow television advertisements, 40 years after they were first banned in other countries. Advertising in local magazines and on billboards has only been banned in just over half of the countries. Advertising on the internet is rarely controlled.⁽¹⁾ Point of sale promotion is particularly powerful and can account for more than 75% of marketing spend by the leading tobacco companies.^{(2) (3)} It is allowed in practically every country in the world.

Cigarette packs are also a key advertising medium for the tobacco industry. As more countries introduce larger text and pictorial warnings (e.g. Thailand, Canada, Brazil, Belgium), opportunities for the tobacco industry to advertise on the pack are becoming limited. However, no country has yet introduced plain or generic packaging, which would completely remove all advertising from the pack.

The use of direct tobacco advertising is being restricted or prohibited in a growing number of countries. This has led to an increase in the use of indirect advertising. Tobacco marketing by indirect advertising thrives on legal loopholes. Indirect advertising includes sponsorship of sports, cultural and music events, image and logo advertising, merchandising, manipulating pack designs, and product placement in television shows and films. Another form of indirect advertising is brand stretching – using tobacco brand names on non-tobacco merchandise.⁽⁴⁾ Only one third of countries prohibit brand stretching.⁽¹⁾

Using indirect advertising to get around advertising bans
Malaysia provides a good example of how tobacco companies can circumvent partial advertising bans. In 1982 it introduced a ban on the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio. In spite of this, the levels of indirect tobacco advertising increased to higher levels than in any other country during the 1980s and 1990s.⁽⁵⁾ The transnational tobacco companies set up separate businesses, which they projected as independent entities, that focused on activities such as travel, music, clothing and sport. By the mid-1990s the transnational tobacco companies were the largest advertisers in Malaysia. They accounted for 25% of total national advertising expenditure.⁽⁵⁾

Corporate social responsibility is being used increasingly to advertise and promote tobacco companies and, indirectly, their products.

The effect of advertising on tobacco consumption
Advertising increases tobacco consumption.⁽⁶⁾ Young people are particularly vulnerable to it,⁽⁷⁾ and are the main target of brand stretching.^{(8) (9) (10)} In many developing countries more than one third of young people own an object with a cigarette brand logo.⁽¹¹⁾ About half of the world’s children live in countries that allow the free distribution of tobacco products.⁽¹⁾

The tobacco industry maintains that the role of advertising is to encourage smokers to switch brands. However, industry documents have shown that advertising causes characteristics such as independence, glamour and machismo to be associated with smoking.⁽¹²⁾ Branding is used to discourage smokers from quitting, to encourage new smokers, and to undermine restrictions on tobacco marketing.⁽¹³⁾

Why tobacco advertising should be banned
Comprehensive advertising bans can decrease cigarette consumption.⁽¹⁴⁾ Individual countries have experienced a decline in consumption of up to 16% after the introduction of advertising bans.^{(1) (15)} A study of 22 high-income countries concluded that comprehensive bans on cigarette advertising and promotion could reduce tobacco consumption by up to 7.4%.⁽¹⁵⁾ The figure shows that the downward trend in cigarette consumption is much steeper in countries with advertising bans than in those without bans.

The study also found that partial advertising bans or voluntary agreements have little or no effect on cigarette consumption. There are many benefits of banning all forms of tobacco advertising.⁽¹⁶⁾

• It becomes harder for tobacco companies to target women and young people.
• It becomes harder to reassure current smokers or to motivate people to start smoking.
• It prevents the glamorisation of tobacco use.
• It reduces the social acceptability of smoking.

However, only 5% of the world’s population lives in countries with comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Many countries have partial bans but do not enforce them consistently. Fifty four countries worldwide have no restrictions at all.⁽¹⁾

Why partial advertising bans do not work
The tobacco industry attempts to circumvent partial advertising bans or voluntary agreements where possible,^{(11) (13)} e.g. by switching to unregulated advertising media or methods. An example of this comes from Thailand. In 1992 it banned tobacco advertising. Because of this BAT switched its sponsorship strategy to motor rallying and motorbike racing. It used broadcasts of regional competitions in order to undermine national regulations.⁽¹⁷⁾ Thailand has recently used existing legislation to ban display of tobacco products at all points of sale in the country.⁽¹⁸⁾

Source: World Bank 1999; Curbing the Epidemic chapter 4. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

Policy

• Factsheets
  • 1. Tobacco taxation
  • 2. Smokefree policies
  • 3. Advertising bans
  • 4. Tobacco labelling and packaging
  • 5. Mass media campaigns
  • 6. Smoking cessation
  • 7. Tobacco and tuberculosis
• Mass media campaigns resource