Recently I attended a conference in southern China. While waiting in the hotel lobby, an attractive display in the hotel shop caught my eye. It was really stunning – bright colours, the objects for sale beautifully displayed in glass cabinets, all perfectly lit for a very dramatic effect. Expecting jewellery or other precious objects, I walked over to take a closer look.
The items that were for sale in this beautiful shop? Cigarettes.
If you have ever visited or lived in China, chances are you’ve had the same experience. Certainly, if you’ve ever been inside a convenience store here, you haven’t been able to escape the bright, colourful displays of tobacco packets around the cashier.
Tobacco advertising at retail points of sale – in specialist tobacco shops, as well as regular stores and convenience stores – has become an increasingly important form of marketing for tobacco companies in China and around the world. One of the “last avenues” of tobacco advertising has been exploited due to restrictions on other forms of tobacco advertising, such as on radio, TV and in newspapers and magazines.
Yet tobacco advertising at retail point of sale is just as insidious as other forms of tobacco advertising, and in some ways even more dangerous. Convenience stores are magnets for youth and retail displays are well remembered by teens.
Just like other forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, displays and promotions at retail point of sale is marketing death – and just like other forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, it should be banned. This is why the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) requires a comprehensive ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including at retail points of sale.
In China, the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee is currently considering changes to the nation’s Advertising Law, which would strengthen existing restrictions on tobacco advertising. The proposed changes have gone through several iterations, both at the State Council and now the NPC Standing Committee.
The World Health Organization was delighted to see much stronger restrictions on tobacco advertising included in the latest draft of the proposed changes to the Advertising Law. WHO sincerely congratulates the NPC Standing Committee for proposing the stronger restrictions. This was a great step forward.
However, the revised law would still not be fully compliant with the WHO FCTC because it would still allow some forms of tobacco advertising, including at retail points of sale. And this is a major concern: because the exemption from the advertising ban currently proposed for retail points of sale would seriously undermine the much stronger restrictions on other forms of tobacco advertising proposed by the new law.
Comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising have been shown around the world to reduce tobacco use. The word ‘comprehensive’ is critically important here: advertising bans only work to reduce tobacco use when all forms of banned marketing are banned. Partial bans do not work.
Banning tobacco advertising, including at retail points of sale, is important to protect young people from the hazards of tobacco. Teenagers are especially susceptible to tobacco marketing. Approximately one-third of youth experimentation with tobacco occurs as a result of exposure to tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Most adult smokers started when they were young.
Around the world, the tobacco industry has a demonstrated pattern of using its marketing to target youth. It is easy to understand why: hook people on tobacco while they’re young, and the tobacco industry has a customer for life.
Consider this: when surveyed, four per cent of Chinese adults say they noticed tobacco advertisements in stores in the previous 30 days. When asked the same question, more than 40 per cent of teenagers age 13 to 15 said they had noticed tobacco advertisements or promotions at retail points of sale. That’s a tenfold difference.
This shows why banning marketing in retail settings is critical. First, it reduces the likelihood to impulse purchase among adults wanting to quit. Second, it removes the visual stimulus that pulls teenagers into experimenting with cigarettes. Less glitz and less glamour means fewer tobacco-related deaths.
Ireland eliminated point of sale tobacco displays in 2009. The lack of in-shop promotions led teens to be less likely to believe that their peers were smokers. This helped make tobacco use less socially acceptable, and reduced the likelihood of young people starting up.
Around the world, more and more countries are moving towards having a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Russia, for example, passed a very strong national tobacco control law in 2013, which includes a ban on advertising – including advertising and display of tobacco products at point of sale.
A comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising is the right move for tobacco control in China – with the potential to save millions of lives. With the upcoming vote on tobacco advertising restrictions, China has a historic opportunity to join the world leaders in this area, to set an example for other countries to follow, and to send a message that marketing death is unacceptable any time, any place. Removing gaudy advertising displays which encourage impulse-purchases of tobacco in retail shops supports the smart decision of adults as they stop their use of tobacco in China, and will protect the health of the next generation.