In 2021, women from the “Mexico Sin Humo” campaign used the country’s national newspaper to call for a ban on advertising tobacco products
We uncover and counter seductive, often invisible marketing practices the industry employs to recruit new customers to replace those who die—since tobacco kills up to half of its users.
One-third of youth experimentation with tobacco is a result of exposure to tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS). Research has shown that comprehensive TAPS bans—applicable to both traditional and newer platforms for marketing—have decreased tobacco consumption by up to 16% in individual countries.
How we work
Advocating for TAPS bans and other protections
Reaching 50 million people with a TV, radio and newspaper campaign advocating for addition of a TAPS ban, among other measures, to Mexico’s General Tobacco Control Law.
Marshaling arguments in “E-Cigarettes, Heated Tobacco Products and the Need for Bans in LMICs” for banning novel tobacco products and making them subject to TAPS bans.
Creating a national mass and social media campaign in Ukraine, “The Tobacco Industry Targets Our Kids,” to build support for a ban on tobacco advertising at the point of sale and a ban on flavored cigarettes that encourage youth smoking.
Revealing and countering devious marketing tactics
Releasing “The Next Frontier in Tobacco Marketing: The Metaverse, NFTs, Advergames and More,” a report from our Tobacco Enforcement and Reporting Movement (TERM) that uncovers the latest tobacco marketing tactics online and offers recommendations to get ahead of these developments.
Lending our voice to the collective call for a ban on menthol-flavored tobacco products, which have been assiduously marketed to a target population of African Americans.
Launching the first-of-its-kind digital crowdsourcing tool to monitor tobacco marketing in India in 2021, which just in the month of May yielded 850 instances of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship online.
Issuing “Tobacco Marketing and Football: A Losing Game,” a TERM report that analyzes marketing instances on social media in Indonesia, India and Mexico before and during the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup to explore how the tournament and football stars were used to promote tobacco.
Compiling “Novel Products, Young People and Policy,” a guide to emerging tobacco products and countries’ responses to counter the aggressive marketing of these products to youth.
Producing a video with recommendations for how governments can follow India’s example of regulating tobacco content in online video streaming platforms by requiring that health warnings appear before, during and after content that depicts tobacco use.
Offering a case study, “Industry Accountability: Reducing Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship,” with exemplary initiatives from around the world.
Driving Addiction: F1, Netflix and Tobacco Company Advertising
This report reveals how the Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” brings footage containing tobacco branding on the McLaren and Ferrari teams’ cars and livery to large new audiences. The series’ fans skew young, which aligns with the tobacco industry’s mission to hook a new generation of users on their products.
Driving Addiction: F1, Netflix and Tobacco Company Advertising
When will F1 catch up to other sports and ban tobacco advertising?
This report reveals how the Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” brings footage containing tobacco branding on the McLaren and Ferrari teams’ cars and livery to large new audiences. The series’ fans skew young, which aligns with the tobacco industry’s mission to hook a new generation of users on their products.
By allowing them to sponsor teams like McLaren and Ferrari, F1 is giving Big Tobacco access to marketing platforms, including Netflix, it could never use on its own.
