1. Marketing to young people in the UK through the media

It has become more and more difficult for tobacco companies to expose young people in the UK to images of cigarettes. However, one place where images of people smoking, is the norm is in film. One study showed that teenagers were more likely to have positive attitudes toward smoking after seeing smoking portrayed in movies¹. Another study shows that the tobacco industry may make as much as £545 million each year as a result of new smokers influenced to start by the movies².

Films can provide an opportunity to convert a product that is responsible for 5.4 million deaths worldwide every year, into something cool, glamorous and very desirable. In the US one study estimated that as many as 52% of new smokers 12–17 years of age (about 390,000 per year) may be recruited through tobacco imagery in the movies³.

The tobacco industry knows how important movies are for promoting their product. Hamish Maxwell, the ex President of one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world, Philip Morris International, recognized this fact in 1983. The important thing, he said, was to “continue to exploit new opportunities to get cigarettes on screen⁴” From 1980 to 1991, tobacco company, RJ Reynolds paid its Hollywood agency up to $200,000 a year, plus expenses, to run its product placement program and other show business projects⁵

To add to the evidence, in 2008 the US National Cancer Institute concluded that non- smoking teenagers whose favourite stars frequently smoke on screen are sixteen times more likely to have positive attitudes about smoking in the future.

Its not only through movies that young people are exposed to images of people smoking. Most TV soaps have some characters who smoke. It is worth noting though, that since the first episode of Hollyoaks none of the characters have been seen smoking on screen.

2. Marketing to young people in the UK through shops and cigarette machines

The tobacco industry, like any other business is always trying to increase sales and maintain business. It is estimated that 80% of smokers start before the age of 19⁶ so it makes sense for the tobacco industry to try and recruit young people

In 2003 and 2005 the government introduced laws (e.g. The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act) which make it very difficult for tobacco companies to advertise and promote cigarettes (advertising in newspapers and magazines is now banned, as are billboards and sports sponsorship). As a result tobacco companies have had to look for other ways to try and advertise their products and get people to buy. The industry has put more and more money and effort into the design of cigarette packets. In 2006 at an industry conference a Director at Imperial Tobacco explained ‘in this challenging environment the marketing team have to become more creative. We therefore decided to look at pack design’. He went on to explain the success of a special ‘Celebration’ pack version of the Lambert and Butler brand which earned them an extra £60 million⁷.
The design of packaging is important to the tobacco industry for another reason. Tobacco companies are no longer allowed to use such words as light or mild as they are misleading. Such cigarette brands in the past have used certain colours such as silver and white. Although the companies are no longer allowed to use words such as light and mild they are still able to use the colours in the design of their packaging which gives the impression that they are less harmful. Some organisations are pushing for plain packaging to be introduced which would mean that the look of all tobacco packs is the same and all colours, trademarks and logos are removed.

Another law introduced by government means that to buy a packet of cigarettes, a person must be 18 or over. Cigarette machines or vending machines are regularly used by children, as such machines are self service and are often not supervised. A survey in 2004 showed that 17 % of 11 to 15 year olds who smoke, regularly get their cigarettes from vending machines. Another survey in 2008 shows how vending machines have become more important for tobacco companies wanting to sell cigarettes. The survey showed that when the law came in banning sales to 16 and 17 year olds there was nearly a doubling in the numbers of cigarettes sold illegally to children. Much of this was through vending machines.

Another way that tobacco companies promote their products is through displays where cigarettes are sold, what is known as point of sales displays⁸. Such displays at newsagents and supermarkets give the idea that it is easy to get tobacco and that it is normal (even though tobacco consumption is responsible for killing around 5.4 million smokers worldwide every year.) Since the laws were introduced in 2003 the tobacco companies have increased both the number and size of tobacco displays in many shops and started to use eye catching towers, specially lit shelves, clocks and shelves that make some brands stand out. Such displays have been shown to increase sales by between 12 and 28% and encourage people to buy cigarettes when that was not why they had gone into the shop (so called impulse purchases). Young people are particularly likely to make unplanned purchases. The ASH report on Tobacco displays has photos of a large tobacco promotion at a music festival in Wales⁹.

3. The tobacco industry: Who’s making the money and who is not?

The tobacco industry is dominated by a handful of large companies who operate across the world making enormous profits. In 2007, the combined revenues of the three leading tobacco companies (Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco) was £90 billion. It is the people at the top of these companies who are making the serious money. For example in 2002 the Chief Executive Officer of one of the world’s leading tobacco companies (Phillip Morris) made £1.97 million in salary and bonuses.
However, this wealth does not trickle down to many of the other people who are involved in the process of producing a cigarette. Take for example the children who work on the tobacco plantations in Malawi in Africa¹⁰. For a day’s back breaking work of 12 hours they are paid 11p. To earn this ‘wage’ they must pick the tobacco, sew them into huge bales and carry them. They are regularly beaten by their supervisors and due to a lack of protective clothing some suffer from Green Tobacco Sickness. Many of the girls also report being raped. For such children there is no choice, they cant leave the work and get a better well paid job or go to school, for most of them their families live in such poverty that they depend on their ‘wages’ (if you can call 11p a day a wage) for food every day. Similar stories come from India and Bangladesh where children as young as 5 work in the industry. Both here and elsewhere the work hours are so long (11-12 hours per day) that it’s virtually impossible to work and go to school¹¹.

There is a huge gap between those at the top of the tobacco companies and those doing the hard work of growing, picking and processing the leaves. It has been estimated that for a Brazilian tobacco farmer to earn the equivalent of what a tobacco company director earns in one day would take around 6 years. To earn the Director’s equivalent annual salary they would have to work for 2,140 years¹²

4. The tobacco industry, developing countries and the environment.

The tobacco industry leads to large scale deforestation. A 1999 study¹³ found that deforestation related to the tobacco industry accounted for nearly 5% of overall deforestation in tobacco growing countries in the global South (i.e. less developed countries such as parts of Africa etc). In some countries this figure is much higher, for example in 1999 it was estimated that over 26% of Malawi’s total annual deforestation was related to tobacco production¹⁴. Wood is used to dry or cure the tobacco in many developing countries while in many richer countries oil, coal or natural gas are used to dry tobacco, all these are fossil fuels and so will contribute to climate change.

Tobacco farmers and labourers often get sick. Green Tobacco Sickness is a form of nicotine poisoning caused by nicotine being absorbed through the skin. It is thought that the handling of the green tobacco leaves is equivalent to a “50-a-day” habit. Symptoms of Green tobacco sickness include nausea, vomiting, weakness, headaches, abdominal cramps and difficulty in breathing as well as fluctuations in blood pressure and heart rates. Such symptoms are more likely when workers don’t wear protective clothing which is the case in many countries including Uganda, Brazil, Kenya, Pakistan and Nigeria¹⁵. There are also environmental and health problems associated with the use of pesticides. Farmers and local wildlife are exposed to these highly toxic substances which run off the fields and into rivers. Less obvious is all the chemical waste that the industry produces. In 1995 over 2 million tonnes of manufacturing waste and 210 billion tonnes of chemical waste was generated buy the tobacco industry.

As governments have put in place laws to try and control the activities of the tobacco industry so the industry has turned its attention to places where such laws are not yet in place. This has meant a shift in effort to some of the countries of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America and the use of marketing techniques that have long been banned from the UK. In 2007 ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) reported British American Tobacco’s promotional efforts across the world. In Nigeria promoting their cigarettes at festivals, bars, clubs and cafes as well as the promotion of single cigarette sales. In Argentina the company has advertised its brands on customised websites that are designed with youth appeal and published a youth magazine. In Chile launching a cigarette pack that opens like a book containing a phone number which will invite callers to a series of secret parties and in some cities in Vietnam many cafes have been redecorated in cigarette brand colours with matching branded sunshades, ashtrays and matchboxes.

As well as promoting tobacco products in the countries of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America there is also evidence of some tobacco companies trying to persuade governments and other powerful organisations to support them. There is evidence that British American Tobacco senior officers (and also the consultants that they have employed) have met with senior politicians (such as health Ministers and the Director General of the World Trade Organisation ) to try and influence their policies¹⁶.

[1] Consultation on the Future of Tobacco Control. Department of Health (2008)

[2] Alamar B, Glantz SA. Tobacco industry profits from smoking in the movies. Pediatrics, 2006, 117:1642

[3] Glantz SA. Smoking in movies: a major problem and a real solution. The Lancet, 2003, 362(9380):281–285.

[4] Smoke free movies: from evidence to action. World Health Organisation (2009)

[5] Smoke free movies: from evidence to action. World Health Organisation (2009)

[6] (General Household Survey 2006)

[7] ASH Briefing: Plain Packaging (2008)

[8] ASH Briefing: Tobacco displays at the point of sale (2009)

[9] ASH Briefing: Tobacco displays at the point of sale (2009)

[10] Hard work, long hours and little pay: research with children working on tobacco farms in Malawi. (2009). Plan International

[11] Tobacco and Poverty a vicious circle. (2004) World Health Organisation

[12] Tobacco: Global Trends: ASH Research report (2007) ASH.

[13] BAT’s Big Wheeze: the Alternative British American Tobacco Social and Environmental Report. (2004) ASH, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth.

[14] BAT’s African Footprint (2008) www.ash.org.uk

[15] BAT’s Big Wheeze: the Alternative British American Tobacco Social and Environmental Report. (2004) ASH, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth.

[16] BAT in its own words: The alternative British American Tobacco social report (2005) http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/bat2005.pdf