Tobacco's slick marketing & promotion tricks  
 

Although tobacco advertising has been progressively restricted in Australia since 1976, including print, radio and television bans, it hasn't stopped the tobacco industry from finding creative new ways of getting around advertising bans. 

Tobacco advertising and promotion is causally related to tobacco use: 
see  US National Cancer Institute's 5-year worldwide report (2008)
 


In shops

Through deals with retailers, the tobacco industry maintains high visibility for its deadly products by "front of shop" displays in supermarkets and other retail outlets. ASH would like to see tobacco out of sight in retail outlets.  More...  Tobacco products are also available in duty free outlets  - including airports, so they're the first thing overseas visitors see of Australia when they get off the plane (see the picture below).

 

Sport, music and fashion

Sporting events, fashion shows, rave parties, rock concerts, websites, trendy product handouts - these are some of the marketing tactics used recently by tobacco companies to glamourise smoking and promote their products to young people. 

The tobacco industry is pushing its products to young people at music events - via a range of mobile and temporary selling techniques, sponsorship and other deals with event organisers. See pictures below. ASH and other health groups have called for these forms of tobacco promotion to be banned.  See  ASH / Heart Foundation media release 4/8/07  with link to recent article in Tobacco Control journal

See the excellent article in the Sydney Morning Herald by ASH Board member Prof Simon Chapman on the inconsistency between stars turning out for cancer charities but smoking publicly and glamorously.

In a win for public health, the NSW Health Department successfully challenged Philip Morris and Wavesnet over advertising breaches targeting young women at a student fashion show. They pleaded guilty and were fined a total of $94,000. A picture of an earlier (Melbourne)  promotion is below - together with some other recent marketing tactics that could be happening at a shop or event near you.  

And in sport, having just gotten rid of tobacco sponsorship of Formula One racing in Australia, now we see MotoGP champion Casey Stoner bedecked in tobacco logos and watched by thousands of young Australians (SEE BELOW). 

The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act is under review and is an opportunity to seek an end to all forms of tobacco advertising and promotions. Meanwhile, if you know of a suspected breach of the laws on tobacco advertising, contact ASH and we can advise you on the best steps to take. 

 

"Harm reduction"

The tobacco industry has made several attempts to launch so-called "harm reduction" products to try to weaken advertising bans and further a "socially responsible" image. The latest is the "Heatbar" launched in Australia in 2007. 
See article by ASH Board member Prof Simon Chapman in the  Sydney Morning Herald 29/8/07 

 

Welcome to Australia... 
land of duty free health harm

First thing you see when you get off the plane 
at Sydney Airport: rows of cigarette packets 
visible to adults and children. More recently, passengers have been routed straight through the middle of the duty free displays! On top of this, QANTAS and other airlines have been pushing cigarettes displayed atop cabin trolleys within centimetres of passengers - including children. 
See  ASH media release 16/7/08   
ASH has called for an end to duty free 
cigarette sales... and displays like this.

Casey Stoner: 
Australia's new Marlboro Man 

Our Young Australian of the Year, 
role model to kids worldwide ... 
who see him (Sydney Telegraph pic) riding in this 2008 MotoGP race 
with his clothing, helmet and bike plastered with cigarette logos. 

See  ASH media release 29/8/08

Here's Casey again - front cover of popular Australian motorbike mag Two Wheels (July 2007). It would have been easy for the mag - 
and the newspaper above - to photoshop the logos out of these pics - but they chose not to.

 

Pushing tobacco to youth 
at music events

These were taken at Byron Bay's Splendour in the Grass festival, August '07. One of many music events where tobacco companies push tobacco to young people in smoking tents - 
with DJs, comfy seats, young models 
and stage-handy location.
 

GOOD MOVE: 
The NSW government has now promised to ban all mobile tobacco selling of this kind. We'd like to see all states and territories follow suit.

Importing tobacco ads

This is one of four cigarette ads 
in the July 2004 GQ glossy men's mag - Australian distribution over 50,000 plus possible 90,000 more in cutdown composite with Vogue (see below).
Note use of "alluring" 
(also used in Oyster mag below)
 - sounds so much nicer than "addicting", doesn't it.

Smoking in Vogue

Another imported promotion: 
Actress Sophie Marceau on a cover 
(August 2003) which would be illegal 
if published in Australia 
but is freely available in shops 
as an imported periodical.

Health groups have urged that this loophole be closed quickly under Federal legislation.

The Alpine Girls

Promotions like this 
at fashion shows 
(this one in Melbourne) 
were found to be illegal 
and eventually led to 
Philip Morris and Wavesnet
 
being fined for breaking 
NSW tobacco advertising laws.

The Alpine Fridge

These displays of 
chilling promotional bravado 
are illegal in NSW 
but they were still used in some shops 
and have been sighted in other states.

And see how they got it displayed - 
from Philip Morris' files, 1995 

Stuyvesant tins

Silver containers promoting 
Peter Stuyvesant cigarette brand, 
handed out to the teenage audience 
at a 2002 Sydney pop concert. 
Very flash  - with the added advantage of neatly concealing health warnings 
that might spoil the pleasure. 
The manufacturer of the brand 
say they had nothing to do with it.

 

 

Page last updated on 30/9/08