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For many years, countries have imposed partial or total bans on tobacco advertising, marketing and promotion. In the vast majority of countries, tobacco product advertising is no longer permitted on broadcast media such as television and radio. Many countries also have prohibited tobacco advertising on billboards, and a growing number of countries prohibit advertising in print media such as newspapers and magazines. Where tobacco product advertisements are permitted, most countries require that they include health warnings.
Some people have the mistaken belief that regulations restricting tobacco advertising and marketing are not common outside of Western Europe and the United States. In fact, many countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe have implemented broad based bans on tobacco advertising. These countries include Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Gambia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey.
Article 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) calls for a “comprehensive ban on advertising, promotion, and sponsorship” and requires governments that have no constitutional constraints to ban all forms of advertising. Where constitutional constraints exist, the FCTC requires governments to restrict or ban radio, television, print media, other media (including the Internet), and sponsorship of international events. Many public health officials contend that marketing bans lead directly to a reduction in smoking rates.
Our View
Tobacco products should be marketed and sold to adults only. While we do not agree that marketing causes people to smoke, we have been a strong advocate for regulations that restrict the advertising and promotion of tobacco products, including complete bans in some media, such as television, radio and billboards. We also believe that health warnings should be required on those forms of tobacco advertising that are permitted. In fact, we voluntarily apply such warnings on our advertisements in countries that do not require them. Like many in the public health community, we believe that regulations restricting advertising and marketing are more effective than voluntary codes. That’s because regulation, if enforced, can ensure that all companies follow the same rules.
We do not support complete bans on tobacco advertising and marketing. On this point we disagree with the World Health Organization and the FCTC. The ability for manufacturers to market their products to adult smokers is fundamental to vigorous competition and we believe it is important for adult smokers to be able to receive information on the available product range and on their preferred product choice. In our view, regulations can strike the right balance between effectively limiting tobacco product marketing and preserving the ability of tobacco companies to communicate with adult smokers.
Our Practices
Marketing is one of Philip Morris International’s great strengths, and it remains a core pillar of our competitive strategy.
Our marketing is based on three fundamental principles:
- We do not market to children or use any images or content that might appeal to minors.
- We put health warnings on all our marketing materials and packaging.
- All our marketing respects global standards of decency as well as local cultures, traditions, and practices.
Here are a few examples of what these rules mean for our day-to-day marketing practices:
- We do not use cartoons, youth-oriented celebrities, or models under age 25 in our advertising.
- We do not advertise on the front or back cover of any print publications for general circulation.
- We do not engage in product placement in movies or on television—in fact, we routinely decline all such requests.
- We do not place the names or logos of our cigarette brands on any promotional items that are likely to be used by minors.