Status: 11/22/2021 8:16 a.m.
Tobacco advertising is gradually being further restricted. The laws do not go far enough for non-smoking associations. The industry is looking for new marketing opportunities.
Young, cool, free and with a cigarette in hand – but never wrapped in blue haze: Tobacco advertising has long obscured the view with good-looking, adventurous or obviously particularly successful characters with the opposite sex. This should now finally be over. Although: In the final analysis, probably not. Because the cigarette lobby is mighty – and a few back doors will therefore remain open to do a little bit of advertising for a product that makes one thing for sure: sick. “Around 121,000 deaths per year in Germany can be directly attributed to smoking. Smoking causes almost 100 billion euros in costs through lost work and illness.” This is what it says in the drug and addiction report of the federal government’s drug commissioner. And the government responded.
What is still allowed, what is already forbidden?
There has been no cigarette advertising on television or radio since 1975. Sponsorship of television programs ended in 1999. Three years later, the legislature banned the romantic smoking clips about the Marlboro Man and the tousled, lascivious Gauloises girls from the cinemas, at least from screenings before 6 p.m. According to EU legislation, advertising for tobacco has not been allowed to appear in print products since 2007.
Initiatives to further tighten the advertising ban failed in the Bundestag first in 2014 and then again in 2016 due to resistance from the CDU. Only in 2020 did the Bundestag take up the topic again and from 2021 onwards only allowed tobacco advertising in front of films that are approved for ages 18 and over. The distribution of free cigarette samples outside of the specialist trade was forbidden at the time.
Several companies voluntarily committed themselves in their advertising to refrain from models who are younger than 30 years old or who look like that. This is to prevent young people from feeling addressed by advertising. Nevertheless, Germany is still at the bottom of the so-called “tobacco control index” for advertising and sponsorship of the European cancer leagues.
The law from this year provides for further, step-by-step tightening of tobacco advertising. From January 2022 onwards, there will be no more outdoor advertising at bus stops or on billboards; this also applies to tobacco heaters in the following year and to e-cigarettes from 2024 onwards.
“Generous exceptions and transition periods”
That does not go far enough for the non-smoker protection association Germany: “The legal regulations do not represent an absolute advertising ban, as it would be desirable, but only an advertising restriction”, criticizes board member Sören Becker. Tobacco products can still be advertised at the point of sale; Even parasols in the catering industry continue to carry cigarette advertising; and children and young people are at risk if tobacco advertising is displayed next to sweets in supermarkets and gas stations. For outdoor advertising, transition periods are too long until something actually happens, criticizes the association spokesman.
“The tobacco industry is an industry that has been systematically deceiving and cheating for 70 years,” accuses Becker, accusing the corporations of “illegal machinations”. “It starts with trickery like deliberately covering up warning notices on advertising posters and extends to clearly illegal advertising activities.” As examples, he cites the presentation of cigarettes as a natural product or, in another case, the targeted addressing of young people in the advertising of a tobacco heater.
There are loopholes in tobacco advertising
The opponents of tobacco advertising see the “circumvention of the tobacco advertising ban on the Internet” as a major problem. The Non-Smoking Protection Association points to “hidden advertising in social networks” and continues: “There are also indications that tobacco companies are specifically paying influencers for the positive presentation of tobacco and nicotine products”.
The German Cancer Aid is also in favor of a ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship for tobacco products and e-cigarettes in any form. “Smoking is still the most important preventable cancer risk factor nationwide.” Gerd Nettekoven, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deutsche Krebshilfe, sees a duty of care, especially towards minors: “Technical youth protection devices for age verification at cigarette machines are inadequate. Cigarette packs can still be used by the tobacco industry as an important advertising space. And last but not least, smoking in films and Television definitely influences smoking behavior. It is seen as a causal factor for the initiation of smoking in children and adolescents “.
Advertising spending unchanged
Jan Mücke, General Manager of the Federal Association of the Tobacco Industry and New Products, disagrees. Tobacco advertising does not lead to more people starting smoking or fewer users to quit smoking. “With the manufacturers’ marketing expenditure stable, the smoking rate among adults in Germany has decreased by around 30 percent in recent years .) decreased even more “.
The tobacco industry criticizes the gradual tightening of the bans as a distortion of competition: “The existing, de facto, complete ban on advertising for a product that is freely available to adults is a hitherto unknown encroachment on entrepreneurial freedom that is not allowed in the free market economy,” says Mücke. This is particularly at the expense of innovative, small or new market participants. Existing market shares would be frozen and consumers would no longer be adequately informed about product innovations and new types of products. Against this background, “a different handling of advertising bans for tobacco, alcohol and sugar is incomprehensible.”
The money from the tobacco industry helps communities
Municipalities may not want to do without tobacco advertising altogether, as the illuminated advertisements help set up and maintain bus stops. The professional association for outdoor advertising states that the ban on tobacco outdoor advertising would lead to a loss of sales of up to 20 percent.
All this should not be an argument to advertise a product that kills more than eight million people worldwide every year, the non-smoker protection association argues: “Since practically nobody starts smoking after the age of 25, tobacco advertising has to stop inevitably aimed at young people. A tobacco advertising ban means primarily the protection of young people. “