Tobacco advertising

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jump to: navigation, search
Product advertising

Alcohol advertising
Cosmetic advertising
Gambling advertising
Mobile phone content advertising
Tobacco advertising

Advertising regulation

Tobacco advertising is the promotion of tobacco use (typically smoking) by the tobacco industry through a variety of media. The tobacco industry also commonly uses sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is one of the most highly-regulated forms of marketing, along with alcohol advertising, and is banned in many countries.

Contents

Campaign intentions

Joe Camel was part of a campaign to attract younger smokers
Enlarge
Joe Camel was part of a campaign to attract younger smokers

As with all advertising, tobacco advertising has two broad categories of opportunities. The first is to stimulate primary demand which is demand for tobacco products rather than demand for specific brands. In developing countries this is particularly important where multinational tobacco companies are seeking to induce experimentation in tobacco products (mainly cigarettes) amongst non-smokers and, especially, to stimulate this initial consumer demand in the direction of international brands instead of local products. The second opportunity for such advertising is to increase brand and customer loyalty. One of the original forms of this were the inclusion of cigarette cards, a collectable set of ephemera.

Target markets

The intended audience of the tobacco advertising campaigns have changed throughout the years, with some brands being specifically targeted towards a particular demographic. The Joe Camel campaign in the United States, conceived by Reynolds American Inc., was a cartoon mascot created allegedly to attract younger smokers to the Camel brand. Under pressure from various anti-smoking groups and the U.S. Congress the campaign ended on 10 July 1997.

Tobacco companies have frequently targeted the female market, seeing it as a potential growth area as the largest market segment has traditionally been male. The introduction of the 1960s Virginia Slims brand, and in particular the "You’ve Come a Long Way Baby" campaign, was specifically aimed at increasing the number of women that smoked. [1]

Budgets

Tobacco companies have had particularly large budgets for their advertising campaigns. The Federal Trade Commission claimed that cigarette manufacturers spent $8.24 billion on advertising and promotion in 1999, the highest amount ever. The increase, despite restrictions on the advertising in most countries, was an attempt at appealling to a younger audience, including multi-purchase offers and giveaways such as hats and lighters, along with the more traditional store and magazine advertising. [2]

Marketing consultants ACNielsen announced that, during the period September 2001 to August 2002, tobacco companies advertising in the UK spent £25 million, excluding sponsorship and indirect advertising, broken down as follows:

  • £11 million on press advertising
  • £13.2 million on Billboards
  • £714,550 on radio advertising
  • £106,253 on direct mail advertising

Figures from around that time also estimated that the companies spent £8m a year sponsoring sporting events and teams (excluding Formula One) and a further £70m on Formula One in the UK. [3]

Advertising around the world

Many governments now force tobacco packaging to carry health warnings
Enlarge
Many governments now force tobacco packaging to carry health warnings

The European Union and World Health Organization (WHO) have both specified that the advertising of tobacco should not be allowed. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into effect on 27 February 2005, requires that all of the 168 countries that agreed to the treaty ban tobacco advertising unless their constitution forbade it.

United Kingdom

Tobacco products cannot generally be advertised in the United Kingdom and must show warning signs on all packaging. The first calls to restrict advertising came in 1962 from the Royal College of Physicians, who highlighted the health problems and recommended stricter laws on the sale and advertising of tobacco products. Three years later all television commercials for cigarettes were banned. Adverts for loose tobacco and cigars, however, continued for many years. In 1971 an agreement between the government and the tobacco industry saw the inclusion of health warnings on all cigarette packets. Non-television advertising campaigns were still allowed in the UK but came under stricter guidelines in 1986.

As part of their 1997 election campaign, the Labour Party pledged to ban all advertising of tobacco products. Five years after winning the election, the legislation was passed.

While cigarette vending machines are still allowed in licensed premises they are now only allowed to display a picture of what is available and no advertisements can be included on the machine. The total available space allowed for an advert within these premises is now approximately the size of an A5 piece of paper, with 30% of that being taken up by government health warnings. [4]

Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002

The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 was passed on 7 November 2002 and is "An Act to control the advertising and promotion of tobacco products; and for connected purposes." [5] It was a phased implementation with a specific timescale:

Date What is covered by the ban
14 February 2003 General advertising
14 May 2003 Promotions
30 July 2003 Sponsorship of sporting events within the UK
May 2004 Particular advertisements in tobacconist
21 December 2004 The total advertising space for all tobacco companies is limited to an A5-sized area in shops, pubs and clubs
31 July 2005 Sponsorship of excepted global events; brandsharing

There are also several exemptions from this legislation:

  • Those advertisements that appear within the tobacco industry
  • Those in publications that are not primarily aimed at a British audience
  • Advertisements other than those for cigarettes or hand-rolling tobacco within specialist tobacconists if the sale of cigars, snuff, pipe tobacco and smoking accessories accounts for over 50% of their sales
  • Direct mail that has been specifically requested

United States

The Virginia Slims cigarette brand marketed to women with the slogan "You've come a long way, baby!" from the early 1970s until the late 1990s. The ad seen here is from 1978.
Enlarge
The Virginia Slims cigarette brand marketed to women with the slogan "You've come a long way, baby!" from the early 1970s until the late 1990s. The ad seen here is from 1978.

In the United States, advertising of tobacco products on television and radio was banned starting on January 1, 1972, with the Virginia Slims brand being the last commercial shown. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, cigarette brands were frequently sponsors of television shows—most notably shows like To Tell the Truth and What's My Line? One of the most famous television jingles of the era came from an advertisement for Winston cigarettes. The slogan "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should!" proved to be catchy, and is still quoted today.

After 1972, most tobacco advertising was done in magazines and on billboards. Since the introduction of the Federal Cigarette Labelling and Advertising Act all packaging and advertisements must display a health warning from the Surgeon General. In November 2003, tobacco companies and magazine publishers agreed to cease the placement of advertisements in school library editions of four magazines with a large group of young readers (Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek) [6].

The first known advertisement was for the snuff and tobacco products of P. Lorillard and Company and was placed in the New York daily paper in 1789. Advertising was an emerging concept, and tobacco-related adverts were not seen as any different to those for other products—their negative impact on health was unknown at the time. Local and regional newspapers were used because of the small-scale production and transportation of these goods. The first real brand name to become known on a bigger scale was "Bull Durham" which emerged in 1868, with the advertising placing the emphasise on how easy it was "to roll your own" [7].

The development of colour lithography in the late 1870s allowed the companies to create attractive images to better present their products. This led to the printing of pictures onto the cigarette cards, previously only used to stiffen the packaging but now turned into an early marketing concept. [8]

Billboards are a major venue of cigarette advertising (10% of Michigan billboards advertise alcohol and tobacco, according to the Detroit Free Press [9]). They made the news when, in the tobacco settlement of 1999, all cigarette billboards were replaced with anti-smoking messages. In a parody of the Marlboro Man, some billboards depicted cowboys riding on ranches with slogans like "Bob, I miss my lung".

America's first regular television news programme, Camel News Caravan, was sponsored by Camel Cigarettes and featured an ashtray on the desk in front of the newscaster and the Camel logo behind him. The show ran from 1949 to 1956.

Canada

In Canada, advertising of tobacco products has been prohibited by the Hazardous Products Act as of May 1988 and all tobacco products must show warning signs on all packaging.

Until 2003, tobacco manufacturers got around this restriction by sponsoring cultural and sporting events, such as the Benson and Hedges Symphony of Fire (a fireworks display in Toronto and Vancouver), which allowed the manufacturers names and logos to appear in advertisements sponsoring the events, and at the venues. The ban on tobacco sponsorship was a major factor that led to the near-cancellation of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montréal, but was saved by finding replacement sponsors and an agreement for the cars to have tobacco advertising removed. Most sports and cultural events were able to find new sponsors. One drastic move, however, was the removal of major tournament status of the du Maurier Classic, a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. While the Bank of Montréal took over sponsorship of the event originally called La Canadienne after the 2000 event and renamed it the BMO Canadian Women's Open, the event lost major tournament status and was replaced on the major event schedule by the Women's British Open.

However, the fate of the Canadian Women's Open is in doubt currently, after five years of the Bank on Montréal sponsorship, they have decided not to renew the sponsorship.

Anti-smoking advertising

Anti-smoking groups, particularly cancer charities, along with many government health departments have attempted to counter the advertising of tobacco by creating their own advertisements to highlight the negative effects of smoking. The earliest commercials mainly focused on aiding smoking cessation, the increased risk of lung cancer and the problems associated with passive smoking. However, they have become increasingly hard-hitting over the years, with some campaigns now centred around decreased physical attractiveness [10] and the risk of erectile dysfunction [11]. These are more targetted towards younger smokers than previous campaigns. The British government spent £31 million in 2003 as part of their anti-smoking campaign [12].

In 2005 the European Union launched the "For a life without tobacco" campaign in all its constituent countries to help people quit smoking [13].

The Marlboro Man was one of the most successful cigarette advertising campaigns, lasting from the 1960s to the 1990s. The Marlboro brand was promoted by various cowboys, with Wayne McLaren posing for some promotional photographs in 1976. He died of lung cancer in 1992, having appeared in a television spot showing him in a hospital bed. That image was juxtaposed with him during the promotional shoot, with a voiceover warning about the dangers of smoking. [14]

Sponsorship in sport

In June 1997 Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary of the British Labour Party, announced that sponsorship in all sports would be banned. This came just one month after they regained power in the general election.

Formula One

Kimi Räikkönen in the McLaren showing the West logo
Enlarge
Kimi Räikkönen in the McLaren showing the West logo

The teams, drivers and circuits of Formula One are heavily dependent on the financial backing of their sponsors. The tobacco industry has played a major role in sponsoring the sport and have faced numerous battles with governments around the world. Despite the decision to ban all sports sponsorship, in November 1997 the British government decided to exclude Formula One based on the threat that the sport would leave Europe and race in countries that did not impose such restrictions. Soon after it was revealed that Bernie Ecclestone, the CEO of Formula One Management, had donated £1 million to the party and by December they announced that the exemption would only be temporary.

There is now a blanket ban on advertising in Europe, and the cars are not allowed to show any links with the tobacco companies. They are, however, still allowed to run with a livery and general colour scheme matching their sponsor. For example, McLaren replaces the West logo on their cars with the drivers' names in the same colour and typeface, Jordan typically replaces the Benson & Hedges logo with phrases such as "Buzzing Hornets" or "Be on edge" (simply removing some letters from Benson Hedges) (with "Bitten Heroes" used at the 2001 United States Grand Prix, held two weeks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks), and Ferrari replaces the word Marlboro with a series of horizontal lines which resemble the Marlboro logo. BAR uses a complex pattern with different messages on the wings and bar codes with phrases such as "Look Left, Look Right, Don't Walk" and "Speed Freak" (differs per race) on the car. Renault typically replaces the Mild Seven logo with name Team Spirit

Increasingly, the teams are breaking their dependence on tobacco sponsorship. In 2003 WilliamsF1 became the first major team to run without tobacco sponsorship when GlaxoSmithKline product NiQuitin, a smoking cessation product, became an associate sponsor [15].

Formula One teams are required by the EU regulations to cease the display of such products by 31 July 2005, though the British Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act imposes stricter rules on companies based within their jurisdiction. The British law caused some confusion, however, with teams not fully aware of exactly what it covered [16]. The team management decided not to risk a jail sentence by showing their Lucky Strike sponsorship at the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix [17]. Circuits and teams based outside of the EU, however, are not covered by such regulations and thus allowed to continue with their sponsorship deals and the display of the brand [18].

NASCAR

Enlarge

The NASCAR Championship, now associated with Sprint, was sponsored by R.J. Reynolds until 2003 when Reynolds announced they were unable to continue the sponsorship.

NASCAR's top series found sponsorship from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) in the early 1970s following the U.S. ban on television advertising of cigarettes. The "Winston Cup" became the top competitive series, and later, some other regional series under NASCAR were also sponsored by the tobacco company (for example, the "Winston West" series). In the mid-1970s some races began to get partial television coverage, frequently on the ABC sports variety show, Wide World of Sports. While Winston was not able to do commercial advertisments, their name was all over television during races.

Over the many years of their relationship with NASCAR, Winston sponsored several programs including the 1985-97 Winston Million, which awarded a million dollars to a driver who could win three of four select races all in the same year. From 1998 until 2002 was the No Bull 5, which was a more complex award system. Each year there were five races (initially the four majors and Indianapolis) selected to be a part of this promotion. Each driver who finished in the top 5 in the previous No Bull 5 race was eligible to win in the next race selected. If one of the eligible drivers won that race, they were awarded with a million dollar bonus.

In addition, many other race teams had some tobacco-related advertising, including an RJR-sponsored car driven by Jimmy Spencer.

On February 5, 2003, R. J. Reynolds informed NASCAR that their five-year extension to sponsor NASCAR's premier division signed in July 2002 could be dissolved because of economic concerns at the company, in what turned out to be one of two major sponsorship losses at the sanctioning body. Earlier in the year, ConocoPhillips, which made the 76 brand of fuel, announced it would withdraw from NASCAR at the end of the 2003 season.

That allowed NASCAR to free itself of Reynolds if they wanted, and on June 19, 2003, NASCAR announced at the NASDAQ MarketSite a new ten-year deal with Nextel Communications starting in the 2004 season, as the familiar red was replaced with Nextel yellow (Nextel's new colors were announced after the deal had been signed), and starting in September 2005, NASCAR began replacing Nextel logos with Sprint logos started appearing in reference to the new sponsor.

One major change NASCAR was able to market with Nextel was the series advertising banners. Whereas in the past, Winston signs could only state "Winston", "Winston Cup Series", or later "NASCAR Winston Cup Series", with some early era Victory Lane banners stating "The Taste of Victory", Nextel was able to use advertising to market itself better, which included "Speed Meets Speed", "The Car Phone Reborn", and "Finish Faster" positioned next to the Nextel Cup logo.

Link: http://www.nasdaq.com/reference/market_event_061903.stm

Smaller tobacco companies not covered by the Master Settlement Agreement have attempted sponsorship for portions of the season or circuits. Bailey's, a small tobacco company based in Virginia, has sponsorship of selected races for the Bobby Hamilton Racing team based in Tennessee, and the Bailey's 300 at Martinsville Speedway for late model race cars in the region which race at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks. Drivers in that race have advanced to NASCAR's three national series.

In 2005, GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturer of Goody's Headache Powder, a NASCAR sponsor since 1977, expanded their long-term sponsorship by adding their Nicorette brand of smoking cessation product as a NASCAR official sponsor, and signed with Chip Ganassi Racing for a one-year deal, and longtime GSK Goody's Headache Powder spokeman, and former smoker, Richard Petty would led their "Commit to Quit" program.

For 2006, Jeff Gordon has been asked to led GSK's Nicorette, with a Nicorette car for two races.

GlaxoSmithKline's goal is to bank on the loyalty of NASCAR fans, and the loyalty of their nearly thirty years of NASCAR sponsorship, into expanding from bad breaks to quitting smoking.

Snooker

Snooker was badly hit by the British ban on tobacco sponsorship, with several tournaments losing their financial backers. These included:

The World Snooker Championship was given special dispensation from the European Union directive until 2005. The Masters went without any sponsorship in 2004, before receiving the backing of Rileys Club the following year. Some players spoke out against the ban, worried that the game would not be able to survive without the financial backing of the tobacco companies [19][20].

Other sports

Various sports have relied on sponsorship money from tobacco companies, both for the participants and for competitions.

See also

References

External links

Laws and legislation
Anti-smoking organisations
Miscellaneous
Personal tools