Although tobacco advertising has been
more and more restricted in Australia since 1976 - with print, radio
and television bans - this industry keeps finding new and creative ways of getting
"under the radar".
Australia has obligations under Article 13 of
the worldwide Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to ban all forms
of TAPS.
On this page you'll find:
NEWS
IN SHOPS
SPORT, MUSIC AND FASHION
THE PACKET AS ADVERTISING
"HARM REDUCTION"
Pictures: see
TOBACCO'S LATEST SLICK
MARKETING PLOYS
NEWS
Ferrari drops "barcode" after discussions with Philip
Morris
6/1010: The Ferrari Formula 1
racing team has announced it will drop controversial
"barcodes" on its cars, suspected of being subliminal Marlboro
advertising. Ferrari, sponsored by Philip Morris, had replaced Marlboro
logos with the red and white barcode to meet tobacco advertising
prohibition laws. On its website, Ferrari denied that the barcode
"...was intended to be a reference to a tobacco brand" but
said "Together with Philip Morris International we have decided to
modify the livery of our cars..." So why does Ferrari need to
consult Philip Morris over the change if the barcode does not reference
the brand? See
espnf1
report 6/5/10
Preventative Health
Taskforce recommends plain packaging
2009: Australia's Preventative Health Taskforce recommends moving towards mandatory plain packaging of tobacco - with
bigger health warnings. See Action Area 5, pp. 181-5 of
the report's tobacco
chapter
Petrol stations fined $100k for tobacco
promotion
2009: Operators of Coles
Express service stations in NSW, Eureka Operations, are fined
$107,000 and ordered to pay another $50,000 court costs after being
convicted of verbally promoting discount cigarettes.
See ABC
news report 13/8/09 Tobacco industry "pushing to the
pushers" in ASH
media release 4/7/09 and pics
below
"Deadly in pink": Big Tobacco's new assault on women
and girls
2009: Tobacco industry launches aggressive new US marketing campaign
aimed at women and girls. Coalition of public health groups' report
warns that the campaign puts the
health of women and girls at risk and urges new regulations to stop it. See
TobaccoFreeKids
media release 18/2/09 with link to report and images
Tobacco advertising and promotion is causally related to tobacco
use
See US
National Cancer Institute's 5-year worldwide report (2008)
Tobacco industry's
tricky fashion ploy
2008: Cigarettes sold in upmarket Adelaide fashion and hair outlets
to lure youth into smoking. Behind the tactic: Australia's
third largest tobacco company, Imperial. The campaign was later withdrawn after protests.
Pics below and report in
Sunday
Mail, SA 14/12/08
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. See
more pics
of tobacco in shops - and out of sight
Tobacco products are also available in many duty free outlets -
including airports, so they're the first thing overseas visitors see of
Australia when they get off the plane.
Lately the industry has been "pushing to
the pushers" - with a range of prizes and other inducements to
encourage retailers to promote brands. See
ASH media
release 4/7/09 and pics
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.
In motor sport, the Ferrari Formula 1 team
announced (May 2010) it would drop the controversial "barcode"
logo on its cars, suspected of being subliminal Marlboro advertising. On
its website, Ferrari denied that the barcode "...was intended to be
a reference to a tobacco brand" - but for some reason still felt
the need to consult with Philip Morris before making the change. See
espnf1
report 6/5/10
And the brand logos remain on driver and pit crew outfits, making
sporadic media appearances
And having (almost) gotten rid
of tobacco sponsorship of Formula 1 racing in Australia, now we see
MotoGP champion and former Young Australian of the Year Casey Stoner bedecked in tobacco logos,
watched by millions of teens worldwide. Spool
down to pics
below
In pop music, the tobacco industry
meanwhile continues pushing its
products to young people at music events - via tents and stalls, under
promotional deals with event
organisers. See pics
below. ASH and other health groups have called for these forms of
tobacco promotion to be banned - as some states have done. See
ASH / Heart
Foundation media release 4/8/07 with link to recent article in
Tobacco Control journal
Overseas, singer Kelly Clarkson in April
2010 dropped tobacco
sponsorship of Indonesian concert after a global campaign including ASH
action in Australia. See
See yahoo.com
report and ASH
media release 23/4/10 Just like Alicia
Keys
did in 2008
In fashion, 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. See an earlier (Melbourne) promotion is
in pics below -
and
other recent marketing tactics that could
be happening at a shop or event near you.
Big name double standards: There's a real inconsistency between stars turning out for cancer
charities but smoking publicly and glamorously. See
Sydney Morning Herald article
by ASH director Prof Simon
Chapman
The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act is under
review and this 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.
THE
PACKET AS ADVERTISING
As promotional laws tighten, the tobacco
industry increasingly turns to its ultimate promotional tool - the packet itself
- to pitch its deadly and addictive product to "new smokers", mostly children.
Health policy focus is turning to how to counter package-based promotion of subtle marketing messages of glamour
and success, and replace them with plain packaging and health messages that
show tobacco in its true light.
Meanwhile,
the tobacco industry is making baseless legal threats against a decision to
mandate plain tobacco packaging by mid-2012. More
on Plain
packaging
Packet
health warnings
-
WHO health warnings
database
What packet health warnings are required under the worldwide FCTC
treaty, and what different countries are doing. Search pictures indexed
by country. See WHO
health warnings database
-
Uruguay is new world
leader in packet health warnings
2009: Uruguay introduced a set of six graphic
warnings to cover 80% of the front and back of the package - leaving
Australia further behind world-leading countries with big graphic
warnings. See the
Uruguay
warnings (click on "Presentacion")
-
Preventative Health
Taskforce recommends larger warnings
2009: The Preventative Health Taskforce recommended to the
Australian government that the size of health warnings on Australian
tobacco packets be substantially increased. See pp. 184-5 of
the report's tobacco
chapter
-
Australian health
warnings effective
2009: Australian Dept of Health report on Australia's pack
warnings says they've improved awareness, discouraged uptake and
encouraged quitting. See
report
But many
smokers still don't spontaneously identify heart disease, emphysema or
cancer risks, and many wrongly believe the dangers are exaggerated. See
Quit
release 19/1/09 Current
health warnings, including graphics and messages, at government site.
These were long delayed and reduced by tobacco industry lobbying.
See ASH
release 26/8/04
-
Australia, US, UK,
Canada: Packet warnings
influence quitting
2009: Noticing and reacting to health warnings on cigarette
packets has significant impact on quit attempts, says four-country
survey from Cancer Council Victoria in Addiction journal.
See study
abstract
-
Worldwide
Size matters - increasing size of health warnings increases warning
effectiveness, as recognized in FCTC Guidelines - Article 11, Packaging
and Labelling (2008).
2009: World report on warning labels
from ITC Collaboration's 19 countries finds graphic pictorial warnings:
(a) more noticeable and dominant than text warnings, (b) heighten
awareness of smoking harms, (c) encourage quitting. See the
report
Canadian Cancer Society's international
status report
rates countries' warning labels using various criteria (i.e., size, use
of pictorial labels). See
status
report 2009
Old warnings need to be replaced/refreshed
regularly.
See European
study (2003)
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has factsheets on Warning Labels,
including evidence, countering industry arguments, and worldwide examples.
See
factsheets
-
Latest studies of
effectiveness
Major evaluations of the impact of graphic warning labels:
- 2009 world report on warning labels from ITC Collaboration's 19
countries finds graphic pictorial warnings: (a) more noticeable and
dominant than text warnings, (b) heighten awareness of smoking harms,
(c) encourage quitting. See the
report
- 2007 Text and Graphic Warnings on Cigarette Packages: Findings from the
International Tobacco Control Four Country Study online
"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. One example is the
"Heatbar". See
article by ASH Board member Prof Simon Chapman in the Sydney
Morning Herald 29/8/07
Page last updated 26/5/10
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